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HUNGARY-POLITICS-MIGRATION-SOROS
Soros challenges Hungary laws at European rights court
BUDAPEST, Sept 24, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – The foundation run by US billionaire
George Soros said Monday that it has filed a legal challenge with the
European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg against Hungary’s controversial
“Stop Soros” laws adopted last June.
The New York-based Open Society Foundations (OSF) said in a statement that
it had submitted a complaint to the rights court, calling on it to “defend
Hungarian democracy” and urge a repeal of the laws.
“There is only one thing this legislation will stop and that’s democracy,”
said OSF president Patrick Gaspard.
The “Stop Soros” package targetting the Hungarian-born 88-year-old
includes a 25-percent tax on non-governmental organisations (NGOs) deemed to
be supporting or positively portraying migration.
A year’s prison term could also be handed to those convicted of assisting
someone to enter the country illegally.
According to OSF lawyer Daniela Ikawa, the measures breach EU conventions
on freedom of speech and association, and expose “a broad range of legitimate
activities to the risk of criminal prosecution”.
The foundation moved a regional office from Budapest to Berlin last month
citing what it called the “repressive” policies of nationalist firebrand
Prime Minister Viktor Orban.
In April, Orban won a landslide victory in an election that handed him a
third straight term as prime minister. He has since indicated he wants to use
this mandate to intensify his anti-migrant, nationalist and culturally
conservative agenda.
Anti-immigrant rhetoric was a key part of Orban’s election campaign.
His government accuses Soros of using his organisations to orchestrate
immigration and undermine the cultural and religious identity of Europe.
BSS/AFP/RY/1751 hrs