The Székely National Council (SZNT) presented István Beke and Zoltán Szőcs, who were recently released from prison sentences for terrorism, with a Márton Moyses diploma and medal. The Tuesday afternoon awards ceremony, held in a small circle at Sepsiszentgyörgy, was broadcast by SZNT on its social media page. Only Zoltán Szőcs took part in the event, István Beke, who was struggling with a cold, followed the event on the internet.

Balázs Izsák, the president of the SZNT, said: the Moyses Márton honorary title includes a diploma, an ornamental medal and the slogan "For justice without exception".

He added: they created a badge that can be worn all the time. This should not be worn as a sign of pride, but to encourage the community to stand up.

Csaba Ferencz, the vice-president of SZNT, said in his eulogy: István Beke and Zoltán Szőcs did what all young people from Székely with national sentiments should do. With the tools at his disposal, he formed a community and acted to counter the denationalization efforts that had been going on for a century. He didn't hide it, he took it on proudly, and he lived the identity he inherited from his ancestors on a daily basis. Csaba Ferencz believed that the government wanted to make an example of them, which is why they had to go to prison. In his thanks, Zoltán Szőcs explained: they did their work young and rebellious. He added: the award belongs to all those who persevered.

In the framework of the award ceremony, the novel about the life of Márton Moyses entitled The Fifth Wheel by János Imre Hegedüs was presented. As Csaba Ferencz recalled: Márton Moyses and several of his companions tried to escape across the Romanian-Hungarian border to help the Hungarian revolution of 1956. The young man from Székely was imprisoned, during his captivity he cut out his tongue so that he could not be forced to confess, and after his release he set himself on fire in the main square of Brasó and died after a few months of suffering. Csaba Ferencz mentioned him as a martyr of the Szeklers.

On July 4, 2018, István Beke and Zoltán Szőcs were sentenced to five years in prison by the Bucharest Supreme Court for terrorist acts and incitement to them. In less than a few days, they served four years of their sentence. The verdict against the two men from Kézdivásárhely caused general consternation among Transylvanian Hungarians, as the Bucharest Court of First Instance found almost the entire indictment unfounded and acquitted them of most of the charges.

The Romanian Prosecutor's Office against Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) brought the two men to court because it concluded from their intercepted conversations and the firecrackers found in István Beke's apartment that they wanted to detonate a homemade bomb in the main square of Kézdivásárhely in 2015, organized for the Romanian national holiday on December 1 military parade.

From the first moment, the Hungarian public in Transylvania considered that there was a conceptual proceeding against Zoltán Szőcs and István Beke. After their arrest, they demonstrated for weeks in Kézdivásárhely.

Source: MTI/Mandiner