Socialists demand more stringent punishment for child pornography

Opposition Socialist MPs on Wednesday demanded that punishments for crimes involving child pornography should be made more stringent, in the wake of a recent, “unbelievably lenient” ruling.

Attila Mesterházy told an online press conference that the one year suspended imprisonment handed to Gábor Kaleta, Hungary’s former ambassador to Peru, for owning nearly 20,000 child porn pictures, had “shocked” society and the ruling was “harming people’s sense of justice”.

“Ruling Fidesz’s politicians are quiet and it seems the ruling has not shaken them to make any proposals,” Mesterházy said.

He noted that the former ambassador had been screened by the secret services and criticised the court for considering Kaleta’s being a civil servant as an extenuating condition.

• Hungarian Ambassador to Peru involved in child pornography
• Former Ambassador Kaleta will not go to prison for child pornography

Fidesz said in a statement that Hungary’s Left had in recent years “sided with criminals” and declined to support proposals aimed at fighting sexual crimes against children.

“The Left wing, together with the Soros network have been working to liberalise and ease Hungary’s penal policy,” the statement said.

Fidesz group leader Máté Kocsis said on Facebook later in the day that the lenient sentence was “shocking and unacceptable” in view of a “disgusting” crime. He pledged that the government would revise relevant regulations and propose more stringent punishments. The government will also propose that in future paedophiles should be registered in publicly accessible files.

Source: MTI