Opposition party accuses Orbán’s Fidesz of operating ‘paedophile ring’

László Varju, MP of the opposition Democratic Coalition (DK), said in parliament on Tuesday that “a well-organised and politically connected paedophile network supported by state officials has embedded itself in the central child protection system.” Fidesz operates a paedophile network catering girls and boys from children’s homes for state leaders,” Varju added.

DK accuses Orbán’s Fidesz of operating ‘paedophile ring’

Varju insisted that his claim was already proven by the “presidential pardon scandal” early last year, when the then president granted a pardon to an accomplice of a convicted paedophile “with the consent of the government”. While “some thought that was an isolated case, by now it has become clear that [ruling] Fidesz operates a paedophile network catering girls and boys from children’s homes for state leaders,” Varju said.

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“They prostitute children in state care while making the beneficiaries untouchable and rich,” he added. Varju demanded stricter rules for child abuse offenders as well as extending the legal obligation to report sexual offences against minors to clerics.

Rétvári slams the opposition

Bence Rétvári, parliamentary state secretary of the interior ministry, said that the accusations concerning a young offender institution in Budapest’s Szőlő Street were no more than “baseless accusations and slander”. He said it was “unacceptable” that deputies were “trampling on the reputation of others without any factual evidence”.

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Rétvári insisted that the previous governments had prosecuted and imprisoned 81 paedophiles, while currently there were over 700 behind bars. “The difference is hundreds of paedophiles that were allowed free rampage,” he said.

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