The Budapest City Court has sentenced a Hungarian neo-Nazi leader to one year in prison for inciting racial hatred.
The judge ruled that a speech given by Albert Szabo last October to mark the 40th anniversary of the Hungarian anti-Soviet uprising went beyond the limits of freedom of speech.
As part of the speech, Szabo said, “Hungary will soon be handed over to the caftan-robed and kipah-wearing Zionists.”
He also called for the exclusion of Jews from high-profile Hungarian political jobs.
Last year, Hungary’s Supreme Court acquitted Szabo on similar charges.
Since that decision, however, the Hungarian Parliament has tightened its laws regulating freedom of speech.
The ruling against Szabo was issued by the same court that earlier banned the publication of a Hungarian-language edition of Adolf Hitler’s “Mein Kampf.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.