VZCZCXYZ0011
RR RUEHWEB

DE RUEHUP #0673/01 1891033
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
R 071033Z JUL 08
FM AMEMBASSY BUDAPEST
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 3156
INFO RUEHSL/AMEMBASSY BRATISLAVA 1034

UNCLAS BUDAPEST 000673 
 
SIPDIS 
 
EUR/NCE FOR MARC NORDBERG 
 
E.O. 12958:  N/A 
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SOCI HU
SUBJECT: MAGYAR GARDA - TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS? 
 
REF: (a) Budapest 343 and previous (b) Budapest 663 and previous 
 
¶1.  Summary:  The Budapest Municipal Court held the third round of 
hearings concerning the Budapest Prosecutor's civil suit against the 
far-right Jobbik Party's Magyar Garda on June 30.  The hearing 
attracted numerous onlookers, both for and against declaring the 
organization unlawful.  Conducted in an atmosphere of increased 
Magyar Garda anti-Roma activity, particularly in smaller Hungarian 
communities, the Court deferred any decision to at least the next 
session in early September.   End Summary. 
 
¶2.  The Magyar Garda Association (MGA) was registered with the court 
on June 18, 2007 as a legally chartered organization.  The Budapest 
Prosecutor's Office initiated a civil suit in late 2007 on charges 
that the Magyar Garda engaged in illegal activity when it mounted an 
anti-Roma march in Tatarszentgyorgy, on December 9.  Organizations 
joining the lawsuit for the plaintiff include the Federation of 
Jewish Communities in Hungary (MAZSIHISZ), the National Roma 
Self-Government (OCO), the Party of Hungarian Minorities, and the 
Interest Group of Hungarian National and Ethnic Minorities. 
Interestingly, a private citizen of Jewish origin has registered in 
support of the MGA. 
 
¶3.  The paramilitary group of the far-right Jobbik party, the MGA, 
initially included more than 1600 members (ref A), but recent legal 
maneuverings reduced the number to ten. (Note: the minimum 
requirement to form an association is ten members according to 
Hungarian law.  End note.)  "Former" MGA members have now formed the 
Magyar Garda Movement (MGM), which, according to MGA President Gabor 
Vona, is a separate organization.  Vona argues that, since the 
current legal proceedings only address the MGA, if the court ruling 
dissolves the Magyar Garda Association, the MGM will be able to 
continue its activities because it has no charter and, as such, is 
not an established entity under the law. 
 
¶4.  During the June 30 court hearing, the prosecutor attempted to 
prove the link existing between the Association and the Movement, 
presenting bank statements showing transfers to the Association's 
account from individuals who are members of the Magyar Garda 
Movement but not the Association.  In response, Vona said he would 
send such deposits to the MGM without any delay, as these transfers 
are only "mistakes." 
 
----------------------------------------- 
Magyar Garda - on call: anytime, anywhere 
----------------------------------------- 
¶5.  Since the launch of the lawsuit, Magyar Garda members continue 
to stage marches in small towns and villages, calling for "improved 
public safety in rural Hungary" while carrying the red-and-white 
striped "Arpad" flag and dressed in their uniforms associated with 
the WWII fascist Hungarian Arrow Cross Party.  These demonstrations 
have often evoked counter-demonstrations from Roma and anti-fascist 
groups. 
 
¶6.  On June 13, several days after the Molotov Cocktail attacks in 
the village of Patka (ref B), approximately one hundred MG members 
"responded" to a late-evening call from a non-Roma family "fleeing" 
(according to press reporting) from the village of Galgagyork.  A 
lengthy legal dispute with a Roma family over occupancy of a house 
precipitated the call for help.  (Note: The ability of the Magyar 
Garda to respond in force to a late evening call from a small 
village reflects a rather mature communications system capability. 
End note.)  The evening prior to the call for MG assistance, two 
Roma families' houses were broken into, causing approximately USD 
2000 in damages.   The Roma families claim that MG members, shouting 
"come out Gypsies, we'll make a Gypsy Holocaust for you," were the 
perpetrators.  The police are investigating the incident but 
currently have no evidence of MG involvement. 
 
¶7.  On June 21, two local government officials from the village of 
Fadd, one of them Roma, invited the Magyar Garda and the nationalist 
Goy Riders motorcyclists group to a village festival in order to 
"provide the full force of the law" to a few local Roma families who 
allegedly live off criminal activities.  Approximately 150 MG 
members and 40 motorcyclists marched/rode through the streets of the 
village without incident.  Viktoria Mohacsi, the Roma Hungarian 
member of the European Parliament, and recently selected head of the 
minority forum of the U.N. Human Rights Council, made an appearance 
as well.  County Roma leaders described the march as a provocation 
intended to humiliate and intimidate the Roma community of the 
village. 
 
¶8.  As Magyar Garda increase their anti-Roma activities around the 
country, the Court's decision to postpone further hearings on the 
group's legal status leaves the door open for further confrontations 
over the summer.  Orban Kolompar, head of the OCO, highlighted that 
concern when he asked the court not to postpone the decision on the 
Magyar Garda case, stating, "I cannot take responsibility for Roma 
people any longer, as tensions between Roma and Hungarians have 
reached a breaking point." 
¶9.  Comment.  The Magyar Garda's activities continue to resonate in 
Hungarian society.  As political analyst Laszlo Keri commented, the 
Garda has succeeded in moving its agenda into mainstream discussion. 
 The legal maneuverings by Jobbik/MG leader Gabor Vona to maintain 
the Garda's viability, at a minimum as a Movement, will keep them in 
the news during the summer's cucumber season political hiatus. 
FOLEY