– a parliamentary republic, where the president essentially has only representative functions. As commentators note, however, the scandal could hit the ruling party of the prime minister, as Novak was one of the leaders of Fidesz and actively advocated for so-called traditional values.
Earlier, it became known that in April of last year, the Hungarian president, along with 22 other people, pardoned in connection with the visit of the Pope to the country, also pardoned a former deputy director of a children’s home in the city of Bichka. The director of the children’s home was convicted of pedophilia, and his deputy, as the investigation established, knew about the violence against children and helped his boss cover up the facts. The deputy was sentenced to 3 years and 4 months in prison, and at the time of the pardon, he had nine months left to serve.
According to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, news of the pardon became known almost a year later and essentially by accident, when a reader of the 444.hu website discovered the decision of the appellate court, which, while considering the appeal against the verdict filed before the pardon, indicated that the convicted person had been pardoned by the president. The publication caused a political scandal. All opposition parties demanded the resignation of Katalin Novak at an extraordinary parliamentary session on Monday. On Friday, a mass demonstration took place in Budapest in support of these demands.