Pressure is mounting on Hungary's president to resign over the amnesty

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BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) – Hungary's head of state is under pressure to resign after it emerged that the president has pardoned a man convicted as an accomplice in child sexual abuse.

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Hungary's opposition parties say Hungary's one-time family minister and close ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is unfit for office after President Katalin Novak pardoned the former deputy director of a state orphanage last year.

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The man was sentenced to more than three years in prison in 2018 for helping to cover up sexual abuse by the facility's director, who himself was sentenced to eight years for abusing at least 10 children between 2004 and 2016.

Novak, who along with about two dozen others pardoned Pope Francis in April 2023 when he visited Hungary, denied any wrongdoing and declined to be called for an official explanation of his decision.

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“During my presidency, there has never been and will never be a pardon for pedophiles like in this case,” he said at a press conference on Tuesday.

Novak's office did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

All Hungarian opposition parties demanded Novak's resignation. The largest party, the Democratic Coalition, has filed an ethics case against him in parliament.

On Thursday, a lawmaker from the Democratic Coalition delivered a letter to the Catholic Church in Hungary to Pope Francis, saying Novak had “served sin” by issuing a pardon on the occasion of the pontiff's visit.

According to deputy Olga Kalman, the amnesty canceled the conviction of the former deputy director of the orphanage and allowed him to work among children again.

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“This pardon means he no longer has a criminal record and is no longer banned from practicing his profession. “From the moment of the pardon, he can return to the orphanage,” Kalman told the AP reporter.

In a Facebook post on Tuesday, one of the victims of sexual assault, Mert Pope, commented that Novak's decision “deprives victims of appropriate justice” and that “the uncertainty surrounding a pardoned perpetrator is deeply disturbing to victims, and society at large.”

“Despite the seriousness of the crimes committed, the decision to pardon was unexpected and unclear, causing great grief and disappointment to the victims, making their lives even more difficult,” Pope wrote. He said he was waiting for an explanation from Novak on behalf of the victims.

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As the controversy flared on Thursday, Orbán said in a Facebook video that he proposed amending Hungary's constitution to bar presidential pardons for those convicted of crimes against children.

“There is no mercy for pedophile offenders, this is my personal belief,” Orbán said. “It's time to solve this problem.”

Hungary's former justice minister, Judith Varga, has also come under fire for requiring her approval for the pardon to become legal. Varga is expected to lead Hungary's ruling Fidesz party's list of candidates for the European Parliament in elections this summer.

Opposition MP Kalman Novak and Varga said that they believe that “neither in Hungary nor abroad should they represent me or Hungarians.”

A protest against Novak's decision was held in front of the presidential palace in Budapest on Friday.

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