Hungarian police have confirmed that they have detained the leader of a right-wing extremist group suspected of making statements inciting hatred against minorities. Diana Bacsfi, the 26-year-old leader of the "Hungarian Future Group", was detained for making statements that could incite hatred against ethnic, racial or religious groups.
Police said that after questioning Bacsfi, they recommended to the Budapest Prosecutor's Office that she be taken into custody on fears that she could repeat her criminal statements. Bacsfi declared that her 80-strong group followed the ideas of Ferenc Szalasi, the leader of the "Arrow Cross" movement, a pro-Nazi group which ran Hungary for a few months near the end of World War II. Last week, Bacsfi was quoted by a newspaper as saying that her group wanted to "take over total power" within 15 years. Bacsfi's organization was given permission by police to hold a rally in Budapest on 15 October, the 60th anniversary of the beginning of the Arrow Cross regime. Although the decision was widely condemned across the political spectrum, police said they had no legal grounds to ban the rally. Several human rights organizations and Jewish groups said they would hold counter-demonstrations against Bacsfi's group, even if that meant resorting to civil disobedience.