Let's just say that the saying in the title also blows my mind, even though László Donáth brought this up in his defense in court!
László Donáth, accused of harassment, testified in court. According to the indictment, the evangelical pastor, a former socialist parliamentarian, made offers to the victim, whom he strangled during a conflict. As before, Donáth denied the accusations in court, only admitting that he spoke to the woman in irritation and put his hand on her shoulder.
Trial II.-III continued on Monday with the hearing of the accused László Donáth. The evangelical pastor started a criminal trial at the District Court.
The former socialist representative was charged by the prosecutor's office with minor assault for a nefarious reason and continued indecent assault.
Donáth was reported by an employee of the Gaudiopolis Békásmegyeri Evangelical Charity House in connection with an incident in June 2019, when he left a cleaning cart in front of a painting in one of the corridors of the charity house. According to the woman, the pastor called her to account for this and strangled her. On the basis of the accusation, the former politician also approached the victim sexually in several cases, held her captive and made offers to her.
In February 2021, the court found the former politician guilty of the charges brought against him in his sentencing, at the request of the prosecutor's office, without holding a trial. The court therefore sentenced the father of Anna Donáth of the moment to one and a half years in prison, the execution of which was suspended for two and a half years of probation.
However, Donáth - whose legal representation is provided by former Minister of Justice Péter Bárándy - did not accept the decision and asked for a hearing, so the order did not become final.
Péter Bárándy/Source: pestisracok.hu
The preparatory hearing began at the beginning of June, but no significant events took place beyond the presentation of the indictment, and the pastor did not testify at that time.
However, at today's hearing, he briefly expressed his opinion about the accusation and what happened. As he said, he was on his way to the dining room of the charity house with his wife on the ominous day when he noticed that a hand-held cleaning cart was parked in front of the large painting - to which he has a personal attachment. That's when the cleaning lady arrived, who, according to her, really "exasperatedly asked for an account", then put her hand on the woman's shoulders and asked her: "Have you ever been stressed?". However, in his previous testimony as a suspect, he remembered something else, then he testified that he said to the woman:
I'll wring your neck if this happens again!
At yesterday's hearing, Donáth could not give a clear answer as to which version was finally heard.
At the same time, according to him, there was nothing objectionable or unacceptable in his account. And he categorically denied that he had squeezed the woman's neck, i.e. that he had committed light bodily harm.
Donáth also denies the charge of indecent assault, as he said he never once approached the woman, did not propose to her, did not accept her.
The victim was also summoned to the hearing, but he requested through his lawyer to testify in a closed hearing. The court accepted the motion, which also means that the proceedings will continue with the exclusion of the public until the sentencing.
In connection with the case, the Evangelical Church of Hungary also launched an investigation after several members of the denomination indicated that Donáth approached them in an unacceptable way "including physical contact". According to the position statement issued by the church in December 2020, "between the fall of 2019 and the spring of 2020, the presidency revealed the content of the announcements through personal conversations involving experts."
Based on all this, the narratives proved to be life-like and authentic for us, they wrote in their statement.
After that, Donáth was also contacted in the case, but he received evasive and evasive answers about the reality of the reports.
The church followed up with the victims again and said they had retired the pastor in the meantime. Although the presbytery of the church and Donáth wanted to use the right to serve as an active pastor for another two years, the bishop of the church district did not agree to this.
Source and image: madiner.hu/Márton Ficsor
