ATTILA KISBENEDEK / AFP
The presidential decision to pardon a convict involved in a child molestation case last April caused outrage in the country.
Hungarian President Katalin Novak announced her resignation on Saturday February 10 after the indignation caused in the central European country by her decision to pardon a convict involved in a child crime case. “I am giving up my position”declared Saturday during a solemn speech this close friend of Prime Minister Viktor Orban, recognizing having committed “a mistake”. In March 2022, she became the first woman to occupy this essentially ceremonial function.
The day before, thousands of demonstrators had gathered at the end of the day in Budapest, chanting “No to pedophilia!”. “President Katalin Novak must resign”declared Eszter Madar, a 50-year-old computer scientist, in front of the presidential palace. “They must all go, including Viktor Orban”, she added in light rain. On Thursday, in an attempt to calm anger, the nationalist Prime Minister announced that he wanted to revise the Constitution in order to exclude the possibility of pardoning child offenders.
A minute of silence for the victims
The controversy is provoked by the pardon granted by Katalin Novak, in April 2023, on the occasion of Pope Francis’ visit to Budapest, to a former deputy director of a children’s home, sentenced in 2022 to more than three years in prison for covering up the actions of his superior. Since the revelation by the investigative site 444 last week of this decision which it has not yet justified, the opposition has called for the departure of Katalin Novak.
The demonstration began with a minute of silence for the victims, then participants, sometimes coming with stuffed animals, were invited to raise their phones to commemorate one of the victims, who committed suicide.