(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is greatly alarmed by a 27 December 1999 grenade attack near the offices of the independent weekly “Elet es Irodalom” in Budapest. The newspaper’s editors suspect the attack came in reprisal for its recent court victory in a libel suit that Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Fidesz, the main governing party, filed […]
(CPJ/IFEX) – CPJ is greatly alarmed by a 27 December 1999 grenade attack near the offices of the independent weekly “Elet es Irodalom” in Budapest. The newspaper’s editors suspect the attack came in reprisal for its recent court victory in a libel suit that Prime Minister Viktor Orban and Fidesz, the main governing party, filed against it in October.
At around 6:45 p.m. (local time), a Yugoslav-made hand grenade was hurled into a courtyard outside the offices of “Elet es Irodalom”, shattering office and car windows. No one was injured. A surveillance camera recording of the incident showed an unidentified man climbing out of a car, tossing the grenade into the courtyard, and driving away.
In Orban’s lawsuit, he demanded that “Elet es Irodalom” retract published allegations that his party had engaged in corrupt business practices. Eva Vajda, who authored the 20 August article, focused on charges that his family had benefited financially from the privatization of a mining company, and that other Fidesz members had enriched themselves from sales of public buildings in the early 1990s.
On 8 October, a lower court ordered the weekly to print a retraction. An appellate court dismissed the verdict on 14 December. Meanwhile, the Fidesz party has filed a new case on the prime minister’s behalf against “Elet es Irodalom” for a 5 November article on the same mining scandal.
Police also recently concluded a criminal investigation against Vajda and her colleagues for allegedly breaching the country’s banking secrecy laws in their coverage of the so-called VIP list scandal at Postabank last year. Between April and June 1999, the journalists published a series of articles detailing how the now state-controlled Postabank had provided preferential loans and accounts to a long list of “VIPs”, including a number of public officials and celebrities. The practice was blamed for the bank’s near collapse in 1998, prompting a government bailout. Police questioned the journalists, but failed to find sufficient evidence to press charges.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the prime minister:
– condemning the grenade attack against “Elet es Irodalom”, the latest and most alarming in a pattern of attacks against the weekly in retaliation for its work
– reminding him of his government’s international commitments to safeguard the rights of
journalists to practice their profession freely and safely
– urging him to investigate this attack, and to review all of his country’s laws that
inhibit the free practice of journalism
Appeals To
APPEALS TO:His Excellency Viktor Orban
Prime Minister
Republic of Hungary
Fax: +36 1 268 3050
E-mail: Viktor.Orban@meh.huPlease copy appeals to the source if possible.
