Transparency International: Sovereignty Protection Office report ‘unlawful’

Transparency International on Tuesday called a report by the National Sovereignty Protection Office on the results of an investigation into the NGO’s activities “unlawful” and riddled with mistakes, misleading statements and “conjectures putting communist … conspiracy theories to shame”.

As we wrote on Monday, the sovereignty protection office noted in a statement that on June 18, it launched a targeted, comprehensive inquiry into the activities of TIM, and found that the assessment of the organisation’s financing, activities and network of relations “prove that it carried out political pressure activities as part of a global lobbying network operating for over thirty years, along the interests of the large powers that stood behind the network”. Read details HERE: Sovereignty Protection Office: Transparency International Hungary activity harmful for country

Transparency International Hungary (TIM) responded that, under the relevant regulations, the report should have been sent to them before publication, and the sovereignty office was obliged to respond to their observations. None of that happened, and the sovereignty office’s “accusations” were published in a manner that “doesn’t even respect the provisions of the law laying the foundations for the office’s operations,” TIM said.

In the report, “the state-funded organisation … fantasises about a global conspiracy led by the US, secret games of espionage between world powers, and, who else, George Soros,” TIM said.

The report also delves into Transparency International’s Corruption Perception Index (CPI), the statement said. CPI’s methodology is public information, “so there’s no sense in launching an investigation into TIM to obtain information which is already in the public domain.”

“TI Hungary remains what it always has been: a non-partisan NGO uncovering and fighting corruption, striving to further Hungary’s development,” the statement said.

In response to the sovereignty office’s assessment that TIM had not operated transparently, the NGO said its annual Declaration of Public Use was published in accordance with all regulations and voluntarily prepared an audit.

It said TI Hungary and several NGOs had criticised the law on the protection of sovereignty before its adoption and turned to the Constitutional Court with a complaint after the Sovereignty Protection Office launched a “specific investigation” targeted against TI and investigative reporting site Atlas.hu in the summer. It added that TI did so because it considered both the existence of the office and the law establishing it to be unconstitutional.

“TI Hungary is considering taking further legal action against the sovereignty protection office for the error-ridden and groundless findings in the report,” it said.

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