The convict appealed against the court decision.
László Varju, the member of parliament of the Democratic Coalition (DK), was declared guilty of the crime of physical assault, against which the convict appealed. He had the right to do so because this judgment differed from the judgment given by the court of first instance. The Capital Jury upheld the other decisions of the first-instance court, they said. This means that the board convicted Varjut of rioting and a crime against the order of the election.
In his reasoning, the presiding judge explained: the representative had no right to enter the studio of the public service television, and called his performance in the television's headquarters provocative and offensive.
Ferenc Gyurcsány, the president of the Democratic Coalition (DK), Zsolt Gréczy, the party's member of parliament, and Sándor Rónai, the member of the European Parliament of the DK, appeared at the sentencing hearing. During the prosecutor's speech, the DK party activists in the room sometimes reacted with loud laughter to what was said in the indictment.
László Varju said: he did not commit any kind of crime, nor did he intend to.
He recalled the action of the opposition representatives against the MTVA headquarters, the public events that took place at that time, as well as what happened to him in the headquarters.
He claimed that when the security guards wanted to remove him, he only instinctively defended himself, but also touched on his other perceived grievances.
According to him, he was brought to court because the ruling party majority does not like his political opinion, and this is part of a process of intimidation.
An interlude took place before today's hearing: Sándor Rónai, who came to the event, asked Attila Császár, who asked him about Gyurcsány's pressure on the court, whether the M1 reporter used to "poke in children's pants". The reporter demanded that the representative withdraw his accusations wrapped in the question, but Gyurcsány's man replied: "I cannot withdraw". Our colleague also told our correspondent on the ground that the MEP later told him that "you are stupid!"
Before Thursday's verdict, Ferenc Gyurcsány, the president of the DK, tried to put pressure on the court. The fallen head of government told his supporters that there is no need to be shy, to note down the names of the prosecutors and judges, because they will be good witnesses in a proceeding against the system.
This was already a lot for the president of the National Judicial Office (OBH) and the National Judicial Council (OBT). György Senyei and Péter Szabó wrote a letter to Gyurcsány, in which they explained: if the participants in a procedure are politicians, that does not mean that there are political trials, since in Hungary the basic law declares the equality of clients before the law.
At the end of their statement, they rejected Gyurcsány's threat and wrote that judges and prosecutors can be criticized in relation to their work, but there is no place for threats or insinuations.
It is memorable that the Gyurcsány party member of parliament was one of the left-wing representatives who forced their way into the Kunigunda utca headquarters of the public media in order to appear in a live broadcast. However, this was prevented by the security guards.
Two of the three charges – aggravated assault and disorderly conduct – are related to this act.
During the December 2018 left-wing demonstrations and invasion at the MTVA headquarters - which has since turned out to be a clear provocation by the left - on one occasion Varju ran into the wall of the security service, then lay on the ground, and then grabbed the leg of one of the guards and pulled it out. The guard fell and suffered an injury that took eight days to heal.
According to the indictment, László Varju committed the crime against the order of the election as a parliamentary representative candidate for one of the individual constituencies in Budapest before the 2018 parliamentary election. On February 12, 2018, he met a candidate running as an independent in a cafe.
During the meeting, Varju - in order to increase his chances of winning the election - promised the man a financial benefit in order to withdraw his candidacy.
The man rejected the offer.
Cover photo: László Varju
Forrás/Facebook/DK
