Are police officers being recruited into the Magyar Garda
A police officers' association has asked police to support the Magyar Garda, hvg.hu has learned. The call was made by the Action Ready Hungarian Police Union (TMRSZ). Jozsef Bencze, the national police chief, discusses the affair in his interview with HVG in today's edition. Judit Szima, the TMRSZ's general secretary, has denied issuing any such call, and calls the affair a provocation.
Some weeks ago, a surprising poster appeared on the noticeboard of the 8th district police headquarters. It asked police to support the Magyar Garda. The TMRSZ, one of the police associations, was the signatory.
The Magyar Garda: click to view the gallery  © Stiller Ákos |
He added that if the courts disbanded the organisation, police will lose the right to do so. However, it was not possible at the moment to sanction any police officers who did join the Garda, "since it is a legally registered organisation."
Jozsef Bencze also said he had spoken with Judit Szima, general secretary of the TMRSZ (the smallest police association) on several occasions, but that discussions had never proven fruitful since the organisation's leaders' behaviour "was one thing at a meeting and quite another after the discussions were finished."
Judit Szima denied that the TMRSZ had called on officers to join the Garda. She said: "We have far more important things to do. I have no problem with the Magyar Garda. If we had any such aims, they wouldn't count as political activity, since this is a legally registered organisation. I am not aware of any kind of criminal proceedings against the Garda or any of its members, so I am not inclined to condemn the organisation, as it is so fashionable to do nowadays. The TMRSZ has no link to the Garda, but I cannot say if any of our 2,000 members are sympathetic to its aims. We have no thought police here."
Judit Szima said the poster was a clear attempt to blacken the TMRSZ's name. "This is a reasonable assumption because there are other false reports of the TMRSZ having called on retired Tolna county police to support the Garda." She added: "They want to cast a political light over our work. Launching proceedings for incitement against me is also a denial of democracy."
The Budapest Military Prosecutor has launched an investigation into Judit Szima on suspicion of incitement in relation to an article on the TMRSZ website that harshly criticised police leadership. Szima told the press that the investigation into her violated the organisation's right to free expression and limited its ability to promote its members' interests.
