Fidesz to propose law amendments to better tackle paedophilia in Hungary

The ruling Fidesz party plans to propose to parliament a wide-ranging package of legislative amendments based on a review of all child protection laws, with a view to preventing paedophilia and other forms of child abuse such as the production, collection and dissemination of child pornography, the head of the Fidesz parliamentary group said on Sunday.

“There can be no excuse or understanding for [people engaging in] paedophilia crimes,” Máté Kocsis said in an interview to public broadcaster Kossuth Radio.

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Referring to the recent case involving Gábor Kaleta, Hungary’s former ambassador to Peru who received a suspended prison sentence for possession of child pornography, Kocsis said the case highlighted various shortfalls in current Hungarian regulations.

Kocsis called the court ruling “problematic” and “weak”, and he said it was incomprehensible that the prosecutor’s office had not appealed for a stiffer sentence.

He said these were issues that needed to be addressed, adding that the new rules would have to be drawn up with extreme care.

Kocsis said he is personally heading a new working group to review Hungary’s child protection system. The group will comprise child protection specialists, lawyers, criminal law experts, the heads and staff of the relevant ministries, as well as Fidesz and Christian Democrat lawmakers.

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“Paedophilia crimes are such that the very thought of them should be punishable,” he said.

Source: MTI