According to the Ministry of Justice’s Parliamentary State Secretary, one of the lessons of the Ahmed H. case is that even with relation to terrorism and illegal border crossing there are organisations that criticise the work of the Hungarian authorities and courts.
At his press conference on Monday in Budapest Pál Völner declared with relation to the fact that the Szeged General Court has continued hearing the case against defendant Ahmed H, who is accused of committing an act of terrorism with relation to the riots at the Röszke border crossing station in 2015: “The Government will continue to protect the borders and will not allow police officers to have force used against them and items thrown at them”. “The Government will also not allow such activities to be supported in representation of various organisations in a manner that endangers law and order in Hungary”, he added.
The organisations in question, which are NGO linked to George Soros, have previously also organised protests and demonstrations.
Mr. Völner also mentioned the fact that former socialist party Justice Minister Péter Bárándi had undertaken to defend the accused, and that according to the legal attorney the authorities and the court of first instance did not conduct proceedings with due diligence. “We don’t believe this can be stated until the final ruling has been issued”, he said.
The State Secretary pointed out that Péter Bárándy is a “steadfast” member of the V18 group and the former Minister “primarily regards replacing the government as his main task”, and that this fact cannot be ignored. “It is unfortunate to mix up the legal representation of defendants with attacks against the Government”, he added.
Also of interest with relation to the case is the fact that Ahmed H. had in his possession seven passports, each with a valid Schengen visa.
"European Parliament officials who protested against Ahmed H. being found guilty should instead have investigated how a Syrian national was able to apply for and receive seven valid Schengen visas in his name”, Mr. Völner said, adding that perhaps there is a problem with European Union filters and Hungarian proceedings should only be criticised once these are properly examined.
In reply to a question, the State Secretary said the application of pressure was also evident during the previous court decision, when some of the press stressed the fact that the points made by the former Justice Minister were also included in the High Court’s justification. When in fact the Kuria determined that the justification was not valid because the court of second instance should have come to a decision, he pointed out.
Mr. Völner said his press conference was in defence of the courts, so they don’t bow to external pressure.