Hungary adopts stricter hate crimes legislation
03/05/2011
Submitted by
Háttér Support Society for LGBT People
Budapest, May 2, 2011 - The Hungarian Parliament has adopted today an amendment to the Criminal Code that penalizes intimidating behavior towards ethnic, racial, religious groups or other groups of the society. The amendment was introduced to protect the Roma community from extreme right wing groups, but the general language of the legislation makes it possible to prosecute homophobic behavior as well.
In response to the incidents that happened in a small village in Northern Hungary where tension between extreme right wing groups dressed in uniforms and the local Roma resulted in a violent clash, the Government announced last week that it would amend the Criminal Code to outlaw activities of these right wing groups by extending hate crimes legislation to include not only violent assaults, but also intimidating behavior towards ethnic minorities. The amendment adopted in a record 5 days by the Parliament, and supported by all parties except for the extreme right wing Jobbik uses a general language and refers to intimidation of ethnic, racial and religious groups, as well as any other group of the society, thus – in theory – can be used to prosecute anti-gay groups that harass people at Gay Pride Marches or in the vicinity of gay venues.
Hate crime legislation that covers homophobic violence was introduced in Hungary two years ago. While previously only racial, ethnic and religious groups had been protected, following the repeated attacks of the Gay Pride Marches in 2007 and 2008 a new crime „Violence against a member of a community” was introduced in February 2009 to cover assaults and coercion that are motivated by the victim’s membership in a social group. Even though the legislation is in place, it has been rarely used by the police and courts: the bias motivation is disregarded in most cases by law enforcement agencies. The amendment adopted today is expected to make it easier for authorities to apply hate crimes legislation and thus impose higher sanctions on this extreme form of discriminatory behavior.
Tamás Dombos
Háttér Support Society for LGBT People
http://www.hatter.hu
In response to the incidents that happened in a small village in Northern Hungary where tension between extreme right wing groups dressed in uniforms and the local Roma resulted in a violent clash, the Government announced last week that it would amend the Criminal Code to outlaw activities of these right wing groups by extending hate crimes legislation to include not only violent assaults, but also intimidating behavior towards ethnic minorities. The amendment adopted in a record 5 days by the Parliament, and supported by all parties except for the extreme right wing Jobbik uses a general language and refers to intimidation of ethnic, racial and religious groups, as well as any other group of the society, thus – in theory – can be used to prosecute anti-gay groups that harass people at Gay Pride Marches or in the vicinity of gay venues.
Hate crime legislation that covers homophobic violence was introduced in Hungary two years ago. While previously only racial, ethnic and religious groups had been protected, following the repeated attacks of the Gay Pride Marches in 2007 and 2008 a new crime „Violence against a member of a community” was introduced in February 2009 to cover assaults and coercion that are motivated by the victim’s membership in a social group. Even though the legislation is in place, it has been rarely used by the police and courts: the bias motivation is disregarded in most cases by law enforcement agencies. The amendment adopted today is expected to make it easier for authorities to apply hate crimes legislation and thus impose higher sanctions on this extreme form of discriminatory behavior.
Tamás Dombos
Háttér Support Society for LGBT People
http://www.hatter.hu
