Latest news with #GergelyKaracsony
Yahoo
4 hours ago
- Politics
- Yahoo
Budapest mayor defies police ban on Pride march
Hungarian police on Thursday banned the country's main Pride march from taking place in Budapest on June 28 but the capital's mayor defied them, vowing it would still go ahead. Since Prime Minister Viktor Orban returned to power in 2010, Hungary has passed a series of laws which have been criticised at home and across the European Union for curtailing the rights of the country's sexual and gender minorities in the name of "child protection". "The police, acting within their authority over public assemblies, prohibit the holding of the assembly at the aforementioned location and time," the police said on their website. Police said the ban was necessary under recent legislation that bans the promotion of same-sex relationships to under-18s. They said any appeal against the decision must be lodged with the central European country's supreme court within three days. Budapest's liberal Mayor Gergely Karacsony vowed to hold the gathering despite the ban. He said the police decision had "no value" because the march did not require official authorisation anyway, as it was an event organised by the city council. "Budapest city hall will organise the Budapest Pride march on June 28 as a city event. Period," he wrote on Facebook. On Monday he had announced that Budapest city hall would organise the march in an attempt to sidestep the recently adopted law. - Mayor accused of 'cheating' - One senior government figure on Wednesday accused the mayor of "trying to cheat". "All events of this type have to be announced, and the police have the right to ban them," said Gergely Gulyas, head of Orban's office. "No serious legal expert would try to dispute that." In mid-March, the Hungarian parliament passed a bill aimed at banning any gathering that violates an anti-LGBTQ law adopted in 2021. The 2021 law prohibits the "display or promotion of homosexuality" to under-18s. In its decision published Thursday, police said that the march "by its very nature cannot be held without the representation" of people belonging to the LGBTQ community and that under-18s could be present along the route. "If it cannot be stated with absolute certainty that the display is not taking place in the presence of persons under 18 years of age, the assembly would be in breach of the ban," the police said. Hungarian lawmakers in April overwhelmingly backed constitutional changes that strengthened the legal foundations for banning the Pride march. - Pro-LGBTQ protests - The government said the annual event could be held at an enclosed location like a stadium, out of sight of children. The conflict over the Pride march has already sparked protests in Hungary. Thousands of people blocked bridges in the capital, demanding the ban be repealed. Several members of the European Parliament have said they will attend the parade. European equalities commissioner Hadja Lahbib is also due to attend the march, as are ministers from several European Union countries, the organisers said. Attendees risk a fine of up to 500 euros ($570), which the Hungarian authorities say will be channelled into "child protection" projects. Police may use facial recognition technology to identify them. ros-anb/jj/rlp
News.com.au
8 hours ago
- Politics
- News.com.au
Budapest mayor defies police ban on Pride march
Hungarian police on Thursday banned the country's main Pride march from taking place in Budapest on June 28 but the capital's mayor defied them, vowing it would still go ahead. Since Prime Minister Viktor Orban returned to power in 2010, Hungary has passed a series of laws which have been criticised at home and across the European Union for curtailing the rights of the country's sexual and gender minorities in the name of "child protection". "The police, acting within their authority over public assemblies, prohibit the holding of the assembly at the aforementioned location and time," the police said on their website. Police said the ban was necessary under recent legislation that bans the promotion of same-sex relationships to under-18s. They said any appeal against the decision must be lodged with the central European country's supreme court within three days. Budapest's liberal Mayor Gergely Karacsony vowed to hold the gathering despite the ban. He said the police decision had "no value" because the march did not require official authorisation anyway, as it was an event organised by the city council. "Budapest city hall will organise the Budapest Pride march on June 28 as a city event. Period," he wrote on Facebook. On Monday he had announced that Budapest city hall would organise the march in an attempt to sidestep the recently adopted law. - Mayor accused of 'cheating' - One senior government figure on Wednesday accused the mayor of "trying to cheat". "All events of this type have to be announced, and the police have the right to ban them," said Gergely Gulyas, head of Orban's office. "No serious legal expert would try to dispute that." In mid-March, the Hungarian parliament passed a bill aimed at banning any gathering that violates an anti-LGBTQ law adopted in 2021. The 2021 law prohibits the "display or promotion of homosexuality" to under-18s. In its decision published Thursday, police said that the march "by its very nature cannot be held without the representation" of people belonging to the LGBTQ community and that under-18s could be present along the route. "If it cannot be stated with absolute certainty that the display is not taking place in the presence of persons under 18 years of age, the assembly would be in breach of the ban," the police said. Hungarian lawmakers in April overwhelmingly backed constitutional changes that strengthened the legal foundations for banning the Pride march. - Pro-LGBTQ protests - The government said the annual event could be held at an enclosed location like a stadium, out of sight of children. The conflict over the Pride march has already sparked protests in Hungary. Thousands of people blocked bridges in the capital, demanding the ban be repealed. Several members of the European Parliament have said they will attend the parade. European equalities commissioner Hadja Lahbib is also due to attend the march, as are ministers from several European Union countries, the organisers said. Attendees risk a fine of up to 500 euros ($570), which the Hungarian authorities say will be channelled into "child protection" projects. Police may use facial recognition technology to identify them.
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First Post
8 hours ago
- Politics
- First Post
Hungarian police ban's Pride march in Budapest but mayor says event to be held as usual
Police said the ban was necessary under recent legislation that bans the promotion of same-sex relationships to under-18s. Budapest's liberal Mayor Gergely Karacsony vowed to hold the gathering despite the ban read more Hungarian police on Thursday banned the country's main Pride march from taking place in Budapest on June 28, but the capital's mayor defied them, vowing it would still go ahead. Since Prime Minister Viktor Orban returned to power in 2010, Hungary has passed a series of laws which have been criticised at home and across the European Union for curtailing the rights of the country's sexual and gender minorities in the name of 'child protection'. 'The police, acting within their authority over public assemblies, prohibit the holding of the assembly at the aforementioned location and time,' the police said on their website. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD Police said the ban was necessary under recent legislation that bans the promotion of same-sex relationships to under-18s. They said any appeal against the decision must be lodged with the central European country's supreme court within three days. Budapest's liberal Mayor Gergely Karacsony vowed to hold the gathering despite the ban. He said the police decision had 'no value' because the march did not require official authorisation anyway, as it was an event organised by the city council. 'Budapest city hall will organise the Budapest Pride march on June 28 as a city event. Period,' he wrote on Facebook. On Monday he had announced that Budapest city hall would organise the march in an attempt to sidestep the recently adopted law. Mayor accused of 'cheating' One senior government figure on Wednesday accused the mayor of 'trying to cheat'. 'All events of this type have to be announced, and the police have the right to ban them,' said Gergely Gulyas, head of Orban's office. 'No serious legal expert would try to dispute that.' In mid-March, the Hungarian parliament passed a bill aimed at banning any gathering that violates an anti-LGBTQ law adopted in 2021. The 2021 law prohibits the 'display or promotion of homosexuality' to under-18s. In its decision published Thursday, police said that the march 'by its very nature cannot be held without the representation' of people belonging to the LGBTQ community and that under-18s could be present along the route. STORY CONTINUES BELOW THIS AD 'If it cannot be stated with absolute certainty that the display is not taking place in the presence of persons under 18 years of age, the assembly would be in breach of the ban,' the police said. Hungarian lawmakers in April overwhelmingly backed constitutional changes that strengthened the legal foundations for banning the Pride march. Pro-LGBTQ protests The government said the annual event could be held at an enclosed location like a stadium, out of sight of children. The conflict over the Pride march has already sparked protests in Hungary. Thousands of people blocked bridges in the capital, demanding the ban be repealed. Several members of the European Parliament have said they will attend the parade. European equalities commissioner Hadja Lahbib is also due to attend the march, as are ministers from several European Union countries, the organisers said. Attendees risk a fine of up to 500 euros ($570), which the Hungarian authorities say will be channelled into 'child protection' projects. Police may use facial recognition technology to identify them.
Int'l Business Times
9 hours ago
- Politics
- Int'l Business Times
Budapest Mayor Defies Police Ban On Pride March
Hungarian police on Thursday banned the country's main Pride march from taking place in Budapest on June 28 but the capital's mayor defied them, vowing it would still go ahead. Since Prime Minister Viktor Orban returned to power in 2010, Hungary has passed a series of laws which have been criticised at home and across the European Union for curtailing the rights of the country's sexual and gender minorities in the name of "child protection". "The police, acting within their authority over public assemblies, prohibit the holding of the assembly at the aforementioned location and time," the police said on their website. Police said the ban was necessary under recent legislation that bans the promotion of same-sex relationships to under-18s. They said any appeal against the decision must be lodged with the central European country's supreme court within three days. Budapest's liberal Mayor Gergely Karacsony vowed to hold the gathering despite the ban. He said the police decision had "no value" because the march did not require official authorisation anyway, as it was an event organised by the city council. "Budapest city hall will organise the Budapest Pride march on June 28 as a city event. Period," he wrote on Facebook. On Monday he had announced that Budapest city hall would organise the march in an attempt to sidestep the recently adopted law. One senior government figure on Wednesday accused the mayor of "trying to cheat". "All events of this type have to be announced, and the police have the right to ban them," said Gergely Gulyas, head of Orban's office. "No serious legal expert would try to dispute that." In mid-March, the Hungarian parliament passed a bill aimed at banning any gathering that violates an anti-LGBTQ law adopted in 2021. The 2021 law prohibits the "display or promotion of homosexuality" to under-18s. In its decision published Thursday, police said that the march "by its very nature cannot be held without the representation" of people belonging to the LGBTQ community and that under-18s could be present along the route. "If it cannot be stated with absolute certainty that the display is not taking place in the presence of persons under 18 years of age, the assembly would be in breach of the ban," the police said. Hungarian lawmakers in April overwhelmingly backed constitutional changes that strengthened the legal foundations for banning the Pride march. The government said the annual event could be held at an enclosed location like a stadium, out of sight of children. The conflict over the Pride march has already sparked protests in Hungary. Thousands of people blocked bridges in the capital, demanding the ban be repealed. Several members of the European Parliament have said they will attend the parade. European equalities commissioner Hadja Lahbib is also due to attend the march, as are ministers from several European Union countries, the organisers said. Attendees risk a fine of up to 500 euros ($570), which the Hungarian authorities say will be channelled into "child protection" projects. Police may use facial recognition technology to identify them. Under Orban, Hungary has passed several laws targeting the LGBT community that have been criticised abroad AFP The conflict over the Pride march has already sparked protests in Hungary AFP
BBC News
17 hours ago
- Politics
- BBC News
Police ban Budapest Pride march in Hungary, but mayor vows it will go ahead
Police have banned Hungary's annual Budapest Pride march later this month, prompting a defiant response from liberal Mayor Gergely Karacsony."Budapest city hall will organise the Budapest Pride march as a local event on 28 June, Period," vowed the the latest twist in a cat-and-mouse confrontation which pits nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban's Fidesz government, backed by the city police, against Hungary's LGBTQ community and its supporters, with some legal backing from the courts. The annual Pride march has been in doubt since Orban announced in February that it would not take place this year, and a law was then passed restricting gatherings if they broke child protection laws on public promotion of homosexuality. Karacsony said police had no right to ban a "Day of Freedom", organised by the city council as an umbrella event for Pride, as it does not come under the rules on freedom of of thousands of people from Hungary and abroad are expected to take part in the 28 June event. "They might as well try to ban a procession of unicorns," the mayor wrote on the new law on gatherings, passed in March, all those identified by the police as participants using facial recognition software could be fined between £14 and £420."The protection of children trumps all other laws. And in that spirit we changed the laws, we make politics, and we will act in future," Fidesz state secretary Tamas Menczer told news portal 444."Pride has nothing to do with freedom of expression or freedom of assembly… Pride is a festival, the festival of a certain sexual community, which is not suitable to be seen by children." Viktor Orban announced in his annual state of the nation speech last February that Pride organisers "need not bother this year". That was followed the next month by a law restricting the right to freedom of assembly, if it fell foul of the 2021 Child Protection get around it the Rainbow Mission foundation, which organises Pride in Hungary, and other human rights groups, announced a series of events on 28 June in solidarity with they kept authorities guessing about which event would mark Pride itself. Police attempts to ban those events were thwarted by Hungary's Supreme Court, the Curia, in two rulings so far. The Budapest mayor then appeared on 16 June with the spokesperson of Budapest Pride, Mate Hegedus, in a joint Facebook video, announcing their Day of Freedom, with events from early morning to late in the central event was to be a procession through the city and the event "is not Pride", the mayor wrote to the police. "There will be no trucks, no dancers, no sexuality in any form." The purpose, he maintained, was simply "to make the nation's capital free".That is what the police are now trying to prevent, on the grounds that underage bystanders may witness the procession, no matter the age of those actually taking part, how they are dressed, or what banners they carry. That would breach the child protection law, Budapest police chief Tamas Terdik argued, in a 16-page document issued by police, justifying the ban. So what will actually happen on 28 June? Human rights group the Hungarian Helsinki Committee (HHC), has advised anyone going on the day to refuse to pay any on-the-spot suggest anyone who does receive a notification by post to ask for an in-person right of appeal with the police, or in court if that more people take part, the less likely the police will try to attempt this, the HHC argues, as it could create a massive backlog for both the police and the courts.
