Péter Magyar demanded a real reform of child protection at the demonstration on Friday, which he organized in front of the building of the Ministry of the Interior in Budapest. This is now relevant because the ruling party factions also submitted their legislative package on this topic this week, which would amend twenty-two different laws.
According to hvg.hu, the police are seriously preparing for the demonstration. The ministry building was cordoned off and there was an entrance guarded by five policemen.
The organization Országos Közös Akarat previously announced that it would hold a child protection demonstration in front of the Ministry of the Interior on Saturday, and then the vice president of the Tisza Party announced the Friday demonstration on the same topic, but there was no discussion.
Word. Photos: Gábor Sióréti
After the audience sang the song and the actor Ervin Nagy gave an introductory speech about the increase in support for the Tisza Party and the importance of protecting children, the representative of the National Joint Will, kindergarten teacher Kitti Szilágyi spoke. He spoke about the fact that the child protection system has been eviscerated, the professionals are humiliated, and the government does not perform its duties properly and does not protect children properly.
Szilágyi reminded that in order to bring about immediate and effective change, their organization sent a package of proposals to the National Assembly through the opposition parties, but the ruling party representatives did not allow it to be put on the agenda. According to the kindergarten teacher, child protection cannot be limited to punishing pedophilia, since it is also an existing problem that a child has to beg to have something to eat, and it is not only adults who can hurt them.
Péter Magyar began by saying that the government is lying when it presents itself as a family-friendly, child-protecting, rural-friendly and peace-promoting organization, since to this day they have not apologized to the victims of the Bicske case, who were repeatedly kicked by the authorities. First, when he didn’t take what they claimed seriously, then when the investigation against K. Endre was terminated, then when the culprits were honored. Later, the system offended the victims by paying them an “unfairly low amount” of compensation out of court – and finally, on Friday, when the amounts were made public by the Ministry of the Interior, even though it had signed a non-disclosure agreement with those involved.
During his speech, Péter Magyar addressed Minister of the Interior Sándor Pintér, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, and mentioned the name of former minister Zoltán Balog. He said that they should either apologize to the victims of the children’s home in Bicske, or resign together with those responsible and those who helped cover up the case. The crowd also demanded resignation.
He put it in Hungarian that the investigation and prosecution in child abuse cases take a long time. He recalled that he had recently publicized such a case, which had taken place in the spring, and only then had the witnesses been questioned, and the alleged perpetrator had recently been arrested.
Magyar considers the elements of the already mentioned Fidesz package of proposals to be good and supportable, but in his opinion they do not solve the problem, because amending the criminal legislation does not cost money, and the government does not want to spend money on the child protection system. In this field, the goal for the time being is not to catch up with Austria, but to catch up with Romania, said the speaker. According to Pintér, “he should put down the lute”, because the psychological examination of the heads of children’s homes is just firefighting.
Hungary has promised a wage increase for those working in child protection, this promise is valid if your party is in government. He also put forward the prospect that, in the event of a victory, the Ministry of Propaganda would be thrown out of Carmelita, and the Ministry of Health or Education would be based there.
He also mentioned that the leader of a party with a 26 percent share should be invited to public television, where news is read in Chinese and Russian in addition to Hungarian, even though “a lie is a lie in Hungarian, Chinese and Russian.” The speaker announced a demonstration for Debrecen on May 5 and Budapest on June 8, and said that he hoped that on June 9, the Tisza Party would achieve a result that “if not from the moon, but from Karmelita.”
The participants of the demonstration lit torches and surrounded the building of the Ministry of the Interior with a blue cord as a symbolic message.
Anna Donáth, president of Momentum, also took part in the event. The opposition politician issued a statement: “we still haven’t received an answer as to why K. Endre was pardoned. They still haven’t apologized to the victims of Bicske. We still see no sign of the government taking child protection seriously. Péter Magyar’s demonstration today is about this: to remember the victims of Bicske and the issue of child protection. As I promised: whoever organizes a stand or demonstration for the protection of children, I will always be there.”
Tags: Magyar government kicked victims today
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