I am concerned about the prosecution of Géza Buzás-Hábel, a young teacher and community activist now facing criminal charges and the possibility of imprisonment for organising Pécs Pride in October 2025. His wrongdoing was organising a peaceful march for human rights and equality, and the exercise of one of democracy's fundamental freedoms: the right to peaceful assembly.
This case is not isolated. Just last month, charges were brought against Gergely Karácsony, the Mayor of Budapest, in relation to the organisation of the 2025 Budapest Pride March.
These developments signal a move backwards as Hungarian authorities implement constitutional and legal amendments, adopted in March and April 2025, which effectively ban peaceful events that promote LGBTI equality. The amendments, which I have previously critiqued, fuel discrimination and shrink civic space.
The indictments must be seen within a wider context of successive measures that target human rights defenders through legal restrictions and stigmatisation.
I call on the Hungarian authorities to drop the charges against Géza Buzás-Hábel and, as the President of the Council of Europe Congress also recently urged, against Gergely Karácsony. Furthermore, I urge them to halt the use of criminal and administrative measures which deter peaceful assembly; to amend or repeal the laws underpinning these restrictions; and to reverse the clampdown on human rights defenders and civic space.
