The International Press Institute (IPI) expressed disappointment over the decision of the Hungarian Parliament’s Justice Committee not to advance a bill that would have repealed criminal defamation and established safeguards against the abuse of civil defamation law.
Last month, IPI joined 29 other international press freedom and freedom of expression organisations in writing to the Committee’s chairman, Gyorgy Rubovsky, in support of the measure. The groups stated that the measure would promote “the right of Hungarian citizens to participate in public debate without fear of punishment”.
Read the article here.
The HCLU recaps the concerns about the Act CIV of 2010 on Freedom of the Press and on the Basic Rules Relating to Media Content
The Hungarian Parliament approved the draft bill on the so-called media-constitution, with the official title: Act CIV of 2010 on Freedom of the Press and on the Basic Rules Relating to Media Content, which was passed in November 2010 and entered into force on 1st January 2011.
You must be daring to quip about politicians in Hungary these days: journalists, bloggers and ordinary people have been brought to court for such deeds.
The Hungarian Civil Liberties Union (HCLU) is appealing to the Constitutional Court to challenge the decision of the Supreme Court of Hungary, which upheld the police's decision to ban solidarity demonstrations in support of the victims of the Gaza conflict. The Curia deemed the police's decision to be lawful, despite evidence presented.