BUDAPEST (JTA) — Hungarians wearing the black-and-white uniform of the banned neo-Nazi Hungarian Guard will be fined under a new government decree.
Lawbreakers will be liable for a fine of up to about $500 under a government decree that comes into effect Friday.
The decree imposes a similar fine for a range of proscribed activities, such as publicly representing the Guard, organizing its activities and engaging in its membership recruitment campaigns. The regulation will be administered by the police, according to the Közlöny daily gazette.
The law’s publication follows several simultaneous demonstrations in Budapest and other Hungarian population centers staged by the Guard on Saturday in protest against the order, which an appeals court upheld on July 2. The decree applies to all banned organizations, but it was formulated in response to the latest demonstrations during which the Guard uniform was provocatively displayed.
In a related development, more than 10,000 signatures have been collected in Hungary, a country of 10 million, expressing regret at the electoral success of the neo-Nazi Jobbik party, which is allied with the Guard, in recent European Union parliamentary elections.
Meanwhile, in the town of Papa in western Hungary, Sándor Politzer, chairman of a local Jewish cultural organization, received an envelope in the mail signed “To your health” and containing an unidentified white powder. It was removed by the authorities for analysis.
