Public prosecutor calls State Audit Office’s bluff: Jobbik committed no unlawful act

The State Audit Office (SAO) has just received the Public Prosecutor’s resolution stating that Jobbik did not obstruct the audit process. In its press release issued last October, the State Audit Office claimed it turned to the Public Prosecutor to prove that Jobbik refused to cooperate during the audit process. The SAO explained it had no choice but to press charges with the prosecution service as the SAO itself was not an authority so it had no power to conduct investigations or impose penalties.

In contrast, Jobbik stated in several releases and press conferences that the SAO audited the party in such a way that the authority disabled the online data upload function before the deadline, then issued a release saying that Jobbik did not cooperate, and SAO officials refused to take over the paper documents even when Finance Director Péter Schön and Vice President János Volner, followed by the media, went to the SAO’s office to deliver the reports personally. Last Friday the State Audit Office’s website published yet another release but they kept a low profile – even MTI Hungarian News Agency failed to report it – until today when Jobbik announced its press conference to react to the SAO’s new statement.

It’s quite an important communication, though: it says that the SAO has received the Public Prosecutor’s resolution which does not establish a wilful criminal act in connection with the obstruction of the SAO’s audit process. The SAO does not appeal the resolution but maintains that Jobbik failed to do its duties. The Office also points out that the Public Prosecutor’s decision does not have any impact on the audit report, either.

Earlier, the State Audit Office imposed a HUF-660-million giga-fine on Jobbik on account of illegal political party financing. The opposition party’s politicians have emphasized several times that Jobbik fully complied with the law; the Office did not give a chance for the party to present the requested documents; and that the SAO was just trying to execute PM Orbán’s political order to wipe out the challenger before the elections.

Talking to the press, former SAO vice president László Nyikos said the Office’s activity had been unconstitutional.

Jobbik demands apology and new audit

“Fidesz-Christian Democrats’ lie factory failed again when the originally independent but now manually-controlled State Audit Office’s crimes were revealed,” Jobbik’s vice president Dániel Z. Kárpát reacted in his press conference. The politician added that the substantial fine imposed on the opposition party had also been proven unfounded. Suggesting a historical comparison, Mr Z. Kárpát said Communists would have begged on their knees for the scenario as the whole procedure was nothing but a show trial. Jobbik calls upon SAO leaders to face the public and apologize to a political community which they attempted to wipe out for political reasons, without any professional grounds.

The opposition party also demands the Office to conduct a new and fully legal audit. Mr Z. Kárpát sent the message to Viktor Orbán not to set formerly independent state organizations on his political rivals but to meet Gábor Vona for a public debate before the elections.

Source: press release – jobbik.com