Helsinki Committee wins third lawsuit against ruling Fidesz party

On 3 October 2018, the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC) won its third lawsuit against the ruling Fidesz party. The Budapest Court of Appeals ruled in favour of the HHC in a slander lawsuit against Fidesz and Mr János Halász, its former spokesperson. 

In its final ruling, the court ordered Fidesz and Mr Halász to issue a public apology to the HHC as well as to pay HUF 400,000 (appr. USD 1,400) in damages. The decision is final.

Background

At a press conference in April 2017 , János Halász, then spokesperson for the ruling Fidesz party parliamentary group, lied about the HHC when he stated among others that the organization had violated the law by not operating transparently, not disclosing its assets, and said that in general, the HHC was not willing to abide by the law.

To find justice, the HHC sued and won. The Budapest Court of Appeals ruled that the claims Mr Halász and Fidesz had made were false.  This was the third lawsuit the HHC won against the ruling Fidesz party in the last couple of years. In the other instances as well, Fidesz was ordered to apologize and to refrain from further violating the law.