The scandal has rocked Hungary in recent months. In February, the country’s president Katalin Novák and former justice minister Judit Varga resigned after it emerged that the president had pardoned a man linked to sex crimes against children. The man had been sentenced to prison for covering up pedophilia at an orphanage where he was the director. It was the independent news site 444 that exposed the scandal. – This has had consequences that we have never seen before. But we still have no answer to the fundamental question: How was it possible to pardon someone who tried to cover up pedophile crimes? says Balazs Kauffmann, the journalist who first reported on the case. “More involved” The scandal has led to strong reactions in the country and Katalin Novák has still not told why she pardoned the man. Opposition criticism of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and the ruling Fidesz party has been strong. The parties believe that there is more to unearth that is connected to the scandal that has been revealed. – We are quite sure that there are more people involved in this terrible pedophilia case, says Agnes Vadai. Journalists are smeared The revelation has also focused on the vulnerability of independent journalists in the country. The EU and human rights organizations have long criticized the Hungarian government’s control over public services and the lack of free media. Public services were silent for three days as the pardon scandal and the independent journalists reporting on the case have great difficulty in obtaining information. They are also subjected to smear campaigns by the media and politicians. – We are used to it and have different tactics to deal with it mentally. But it is this case that is important right now, not what people write about us, says Balazs Kauffmann.
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