Public health centre to sue opposition politician for alleged defamation?

The national public health centre (NNK) said on Friday that it is taking legal action against independent lawmaker Ákos Hadházy for alleged violation of personality rights and defamation.

Hadházy stated in a Facebook message posted on Thursday that he had “filed a criminal complaint for alleged abuse of office and endangerment committed in the line of duty” and attached an image of Chief Medical Officer Cecília Müller to the post, the NNK said.

The context and the post directly imply that he was accusing the chief medical officer of those actions, it added.

The NNK and the chief medical officer have not acted as a licencing authority for the issuance of distribution permits for vaccines, the NNK said.

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The distribution permits of “Chinese and Russian vaccines” have been issued by the authority in line with the law and the vaccines have been in use accordingly, it added.

The NNK said Hadházy’s public post had demonstrated “a lack of professional knowledge and ill faith” and had discredited the public health centre, an authority in charge of protecting the public against epidemics. As a result, he has “intentionally misled the Hungarian people”, it added.

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The health centre said Hadházy’s actions posed a “direct and severe threat” to epidemiological protection. He has “questioned the professional credibility of those involved and undermined public trust in the methods of protection”, the NNK added.

His statements “strengthened the anti-vaxxer movement” and his attacks have been “motivated purely by political profiteering”, the NNK said.

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Source: MTI