European Court of Human Rights Ready to Announce Verdict about the Hagyó Case

According to Népszava, a Hungarian daily, the European Court of Human Rights announced that it will make a verdict on Tuesday, April 23 regarding the trial of former Budapest Deputy Mayor Miklós Hagyó.




Hagyó and his lawyer turned to the court in Strasbourg in 2010. Citing that investigators denied his basic rights established in the European Convention on Human Rights, the former MSZP leader claimed that Hungarian investigators specifically violated Article 3, Article 5, and Article 8. The petition is viewable on HagyoMiklos.com


Article 3 prohibits torture, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment. Article 5 guarantees the right to personal liberty and security. Article 8 preserves the right to personal and family life. The entire Convention can be viewed here.

According to Hagyó, he was unduly placed in pretrial detention for an extended period of time despite his deteriorating health. In his statement, he claimed he “had no intention to escape abroad, and since the beginning of the investigation he has cooperated with the authorities. The former Member of Parliament also alluded that he was deprived of visitation rights with his family during his time in pretrial detention.

Hagyó was in pretrial detention for nearly 10 months, after which he was released into house arrest.

He and his lawyer have another proposal being reviewed in Strasbourg: the transference of his trial from the Budapest court system to the Kecskemét Tribunal. The transfer was granted by the President of the National Judicial Office Tünde Handó in July 2012, shortly after Hagyó was acquitted of forgery accusations in the Budapest court system.

Handó, whose position has been internationally scrutinized, is also the wife of the Fidesz founding member and current Fidesz representative in the European Parliament József Szájer.

For the same day, Handó has been summoned to testify in front of the Hungarian Constitutional Court. The testimony is allegedly in connection to the decisions behind the transfer of Hagyó’s trial to the Kecskemét Tribunal.

Mária Szívos, the judge responsible for Hagyó’s pretrial detention and the subsequent extensions, is expected to attend the Handó testimony. She has sat on the Constitutional Court since she was elected to the seat in 2011.


Source: http://thehagyocase.wordpress.com/