MAGYAR GARDA - TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS?

UNCLAS BUDAPEST 000673

SIPDIS

EUR/NCE FOR MARC NORDBERG

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI HU
SUBJECT: MAGYAR GARDA - TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS?

REF: (a) Budapest 343 and previous (b) Budapest 663 and previous


1. Summary: The Budapest Municipal Court held the third round of
hearings concerning the Budapest Prosecutor's civil suit against the
far-right Jobbik Party's Magyar Garda on June 30. The hearing
attracted numerous onlookers, both for and against declaring the
organization unlawful. Conducted in an atmosphere of increased
Magyar Garda anti-Roma activity, particularly in smaller Hungarian
communities, the Court deferred any decision to at least the next
session in early September. End Summary.


2. The Magyar Garda Association (MGA) was registered with the court
on June 18, 2007 as a legally chartered organization. The Budapest
Prosecutor's Office initiated a civil suit in late 2007 on charges
that the Magyar Garda engaged in illegal activity when it mounted an
anti-Roma march in Tatarszentgyorgy, on December 9. Organizations
joining the lawsuit for the plaintiff include the Federation of
Jewish Communities in Hungary (MAZSIHISZ),the National Roma
Self-Government (OCO),the Party of Hungarian Minorities, and the
Interest Group of Hungarian National and Ethnic Minorities.
Interestingly, a private citizen of Jewish origin has registered in
support of the MGA.


3. The paramilitary group of the far-right Jobbik party, the MGA,
initially included more than 1600 members (ref A),but recent legal
maneuverings reduced the number to ten. (Note: the minimum
requirement to form an association is ten members according to
Hungarian law. End note.) "Former" MGA members have now formed the
Magyar Garda Movement (MGM),which, according to MGA President Gabor
Vona, is a separate organization. Vona argues that, since the
current legal proceedings only address the MGA, if the court ruling
dissolves the Magyar Garda Association, the MGM will be able to
continue its activities because it has no charter and, as such, is
not an established entity under the law.


4. During the June 30 court hearing, the prosecutor attempted to
prove the link existing between the Association and the Movement,
presenting bank statements showing transfers to the Association's
account from individuals who are members of the Magyar Garda
Movement but not the Association. In response, Vona said he would
send such deposits to the MGM without any delay, as these transfers
are only "mistakes."

--------------
Magyar Garda - on call: anytime, anywhere
--------------

5. Since the launch of the lawsuit, Magyar Garda members continue
to stage marches in small towns and villages, calling for "improved
public safety in rural Hungary" while carrying the red-and-white
striped "Arpad" flag and dressed in their uniforms associated with
the WWII fascist Hungarian Arrow Cross Party. These demonstrations
have often evoked counter-demonstrations from Roma and anti-fascist
groups.


6. On June 13, several days after the Molotov Cocktail attacks in
the village of Patka (ref B),approximately one hundred MG members
"responded" to a late-evening call from a non-Roma family "fleeing"
(according to press reporting) from the village of Galgagyork. A
lengthy legal dispute with a Roma family over occupancy of a house
precipitated the call for help. (Note: The ability of the Magyar
Garda to respond in force to a late evening call from a small
village reflects a rather mature communications system capability.
End note.) The evening prior to the call for MG assistance, two
Roma families' houses were broken into, causing approximately USD
2000 in damages. The Roma families claim that MG members, shouting
"come out Gypsies, we'll make a Gypsy Holocaust for you," were the
perpetrators. The police are investigating the incident but
currently have no evidence of MG involvement.


7. On June 21, two local government officials from the village of
Fadd, one of them Roma, invited the Magyar Garda and the nationalist
Goy Riders motorcyclists group to a village festival in order to
"provide the full force of the law" to a few local Roma families who
allegedly live off criminal activities. Approximately 150 MG
members and 40 motorcyclists marched/rode through the streets of the
village without incident. Viktoria Mohacsi, the Roma Hungarian
member of the European Parliament, and recently selected head of the
minority forum of the U.N. Human Rights Council, made an appearance
as well. County Roma leaders described the march as a provocation
intended to humiliate and intimidate the Roma community of the
village.


8. As Magyar Garda increase their anti-Roma activities around the
country, the Court's decision to postpone further hearings on the
group's legal status leaves the door open for further confrontations
over the summer. Orban Kolompar, head of the OCO, highlighted that
concern when he asked the court not to postpone the decision on the
Magyar Garda case, stating, "I cannot take responsibility for Roma
people any longer, as tensions between Roma and Hungarians have
reached a breaking point."

9. Comment. The Magyar Garda's activities continue to resonate in
Hungarian society. As political analyst Laszlo Keri commented, the
Garda has succeeded in moving its agenda into mainstream discussion.
The legal maneuverings by Jobbik/MG leader Gabor Vona to maintain
the Garda's viability, at a minimum as a Movement, will keep them in
the news during the summer's cucumber season political hiatus.
FOLEY