Supreme Court maintains possibility of real life sentence in Hungary

Budapest (MTI) – The Kuria, Hungary’s supreme court, ruled on Wednesday that the possibility of meting out real life sentence without parole should be maintained in Hungary, the court said.

The court decision of legal uniformity showed that current legal regulations, case laws applied by the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), Constitutional Court decisions and the Kuria’s June 11 ruling connected to a review do not justify withdrawing the possibility of real life sentence.

The ruling Fidesz party welcomed the decision in a statement issued on Wednesday. It said that maintaining the possibility of real life sentence was an achievement by the current government and the Fidesz party which believes that those who commit severe crimes against life should be kept in prison for the rest of their lives.

Under the Kuria’s decision on June 11, Laszlo Magyar, a convicted felon serving a real life sentence for the physical abuse of elderly people, should be eligible for parole in 40 years at the earliest. Last October the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) ruled that Magyar’s sentence constituted cruel and unusual punishment and that the inmate must be eligible for parole after having served 25 years.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters