Fidesz wins 1st round lawsuit against Kovács
Fidesz won the civil action against Kovács László currently foreign affairs
minister and MSZP president on charges of affront committed during the
2 rounds of this spring’s parliamentary elections. The verdict is not final.
The judgement was sentenced at the Buda Central District Court (BCDC)
on Tuesday. According to Fidesz, Kovács László offended the good
reputation the party this year on April 18-19 stating in public that a large
Hungarian state-owned company has ordered false MSZP leaflets abroad
with the intent to spread them during the campaign stop right before the
elections. Also he declared that Fidesz in case of unfavorable turnout at
the election Fidesz would try to create the appearance of election fraud.
The BCDC in his non-legally binding verdict concluded: Kovács László in
his objectionable statements offended Fidesz’s right to good reputation.
The court bound the politician to get part of the verdict and his apologies
to Fidesz published in 3 national daily newspapers.
Kovács László’s legal representative told MTI: they will probably appeal
to the second court of appeals so the civil suit will be continued at the
Municipal Court. The BCDC in his reasoning tossed away defense’s
argument that Kovács László only expressed his opinion and his
objectionable statements cannot be related directly with the plaintiff
party. Kovács László’s lawyer on Tuesday’s trial among other things
argued that the boundaries of opinion-telling are shaped by practicing
politicians and the tolerance threshold was raised exactly by Fidesz in
it’s declarations. He pointed out too that Kovács László in his
statements did not link the campaign stop offense directly to Fidesz,
rather the television commentators made the link.
For instance Kovács László stated that the top manager of the large
state-owned company ordering leaflets is a Fidesz sympathizer.
