The pro-government press made only feeble attempts to fight back. There wasn't a lawyer to explain the situation, the flusters also thought it better to stay away from the case.
"In the inquisition procedure, the opposition threw the President of the Republic Katalin Novák at the stake because of the pardon he granted. When assessing the case, I was guided by two aspects: I read the opposition press with strong criticism, and I assumed that Katalin Novák is a person with a sound moral sense, empathetic, who takes her duties seriously," publicist Gábor Sebes, former mayor of Hegyvidék, argues in his investigative article.
Sebes considers the deputy director of the children's home in Bicske, who was pardoned, guilty, but summarizes the procedural errors that could have given rise to the remission of a small part of his sentence, the presidential pardon. At the same time, it points out the obvious lies with which the left bullies the general public.
What are the facts?
One of the wards of the children's home in Bicske threw himself in front of the train. A few days later, on September 22, 2016, her friend told her child protection guardian that the head of the home had committed pedophile acts on her. The guardian immediately made arrangements to remove the child, placed him in another home and filed a report. The director, who was dismissed from his job, sent the child's cousin on September 24 to bring him back.
After the successful escape, he told the child that he could stay if he retracted what he had told the child protection guardian. The director told his deputy, Endre K., that the boy could stay if he signed a paper with the text he provided. The deputy wrote and signed the paper. The child did not later change his statement, the paper he signed was not used in official proceedings, the police found it at the director's apartment during a house search. According to the verdict, the assistant principal offered another child money - not a large amount - to retract his allegations.
The director was later convicted of pedophilia and received eight years. One of the educators of the institution, who harassed four children, was sentenced to one and a half years in prison, suspended for three years. So an exposed pedophile didn't get something to download! No one was upset about this at the time.
We are interested in the fate of K. Endre, since he received a pardon from the President of the Republic. His act was classified as the crime of coercion committed as an accessory to crime in official proceedings, and as the crime of bribery in official proceedings. Therefore, he was sentenced to a collective punishment of 3 years and 4 months of imprisonment, 5 years of prohibition from all activities related to the education, supervision, medical treatment and care of persons under the age of 18, and 4 years of prohibition from public affairs. He served 17 months of that, and then the judge released him to house arrest.
Anyone who forces another person to not exercise their legal rights or fulfill their obligations in an official procedure by force or threat commits a crime of coercion in an official procedure
says the Civil Code. The penalty is usually one to five years.
The defender argued in vain that neither violence nor threats could be established, since the child had already been removed from the institution, which upset him, and he was offered his return - thus an advantage - for retracting what he had told the guardian. Offering an illegal advantage is considered bribery in official proceedings, and a summons to testify falsely may also arise. The sentence for both of them ranges from one to three years, so the average value - compared to which the punishment is imposed - is also much lower. The defender's arguments were ignored, as was the judicial practice: they do not usually give a charge to a person with a clean record for coercion.
In 2021, a man received a two-year suspended sentence for aggravated assault committed as an accomplice and attempted coercion in official proceedings. (An attempt or aiding and abetting must be punished in the same way as the commission). But if the classification was coercion, it should have been taken into account that the paper signed by the child was never used. According to the law, a person who voluntarily prevents the occurrence of the result cannot be punished for an attempt. These are already three rational reasons for the release of the remaining nine months of house arrest: the classification is too severe, deviation from practice, and ignoring mitigating circumstances.
Now let's turn to the parts of the case that provoke more anger: did Endre K. really want to cover up his boss's crime? The defendant himself consistently denied this. The opposition press consistently claimed that he knew about the crimes.
The Court's judgment established the following:
(K. Endre) was aware of the removal of (the victimized child) by the child protection guardian, and he was also aware of the fact that witness No. 5 intends to return his cousin to the institution, he was aware of the report made by (the child protection guardian) before him the fact of criminal proceedings initiated, and also the content of the incriminating statement made by witness No. 2 towards the (director).
So he knew that the child had accused the principal, but he didn't know that he was telling the truth! Angéla Füssy, the excellent crime reporter of the PestiSrácok, spoke to Endre K. and without diminishing his responsibility gave credence to his claim that he believed his boss was innocent.
According to this, he acted in the belief that he was saving his boss from a false accusation, and what he had the child sign on the basis of his boss's instructions was true. This is very important, since it does not matter at all whether the perpetrator is aware that he is committing a crime. And why didn't he believe the child? The second-instance verdict also highlights this:
"According to the defense's point of view, it is incomprehensible that the district court did not take into account concerns in its verdict regarding the credibility of the defendants, but did not take into account the fact that (the victim) was a pathological liar established by expert opinion".
It was a grave mistake to believe not the child, but his boss. It was a serious mistake to prejudge an unfolding official procedure; but he served 17 months for that! In the proceedings, however, the courts at different levels took it for granted that
"he was aware that the contents of the withdrawal statement he wrote with the minor victim were untrue, its content was against the interests of the minor victim"
- although this was not factually proven, the defendant denied it all along. He could only have known this if the headmaster had confessed to him what he had done, and that had not happened. They assumed knowledge of facts that only came to light later, during the trial!
This is another rational reason for mercy.
Many people complain that Katalin Novák let Endré K. back among the children with the grace of being banned from all activities and occupations related to the upbringing, supervision, medical treatment and care of persons under the age of 18.
Let everyone decide whether it is really dangerous for children. He has 40 years of experience as a teacher, and he was also at the institute in his free time; he misjudged once, but repented for it.
And now let's take a look at how the opposition and its press handled the case!
Magyar Narancs : "And Katalin Novák, there is nothing to beautify this: she stood by ." "The pardon of the President of the Republic for the accomplice of the pedophile director of the children's home in Bicske: a desperate development. Katalin Novák did not send the harshest message to the victims of Bicske with her decision and the fact that she stood by it in recent days. But for those who are suffering now, they are waiting for help now."
Index: " He knew that the director of the children's home in Bicske molested several children in the institution, so he tried to help him by writing a false statement in advance on behalf of one of the children, which he wanted the child to sign in the presence of the pedophile director." "Katalin Novák granted a presidential pardon to K. Endré, who was convicted in the pedophile scandal".
Blikk: "This is unacceptable! The President of the Republic, Katalin Novák, has pardoned the deputy who covered for the pedophile director in Bicske, many are demanding that he withdraw his decision immediately.
"No real child protection", "protector of pedophiles", "resign immediately!" — the President of the Republic Katalin Novák receives one after another the message of the masses of outraged citizens after it came to light that he granted a presidential pardon to the accomplice who exonerated the pedophile director of the Bicske children's home.
444 Judit Varga into it : Judit Varga's signature was also needed to pardon the accomplice of the child molesting director
Olga Kálmán, spokeswoman for the DK: "The head of the pedophile-loving party Fidesz acquitted the man who helped the pedophile director of the children's home in Bicske as an accomplice.
In the letter, they also explained: what makes the decision to pardon the pedophile Katalin Novák particularly outrageous is that a criminal was released from prison in reference to Pope Francis, who declared a fight against clerical pedophilia.
Toroczkai: "It is indefensible that Katalin Novák pardoned the accomplice of a homosexual pedophile!"
Momentum: "This book is not dangerous, pardoning pedophiles is!" TizenX, Momentum's youth organization, stuck stickers with the inscription on the foiled books of Libri bookstores.
They keep quiet that K. Endre was complicit not in pedophilia, but in coercion, and that he did not know that the director was really a pedophile.
This little trick could also be played because the Court's ruling does not exclude such an interpretation - as I have shown above, I think it is wrong. gladly use the "pedophile director's accomplice" structure, I stopped counting the websites at 28. It is literally true, but it gives the false impression that K. Endre is also complicit in pedophilia.
With this, they succeeded in creating such a hysterical public atmosphere that the Hungarian Association of Social Workers also wrote in its statement that
"The president of the republic, who represents a family-friendly state, granted a pardon to the legally convicted person, who knew all along that the director of the institution sexually abused the children entrusted to their care for several years and forced him to satisfy his desires."
The pro-government press made only feeble attempts to fight back. There wasn't a lawyer to explain the situation, the flusters also thought it better to stay away from the case.
The biased pro-government press was not able to defend these slanders, it was not able to defend Novák." Gábor Sebes/Facebook
Katalin Novák herself also did a lot to make things worse, as she refused to give reasons. Moreover, he stated that the justification is not public due to a legal requirement. Unfortunately, this is not true, you could easily justify it . Or at least his apparatus could leak something about the reasons.
And this is how we got to the point where the Prime Minister declared:
"There is no mercy for pedophile offenders!" and he put forward the prospect of amending the Basic Law.
From all of this, each of our Dear Readers can draw their own conclusions!
Those who are shaking their fists are not angry at the actions of their "cute" pedagogical assistant
Featured image: MTI/Noémi Bruzák
