Entries RSS Feed Share Send to Facebook Tweet This Accessible version

Béla Biszku dies at 94

Monday, April 4th, 2016

A conservative and a liberal columnist remember the Communist hardliner, who was found guilty of involvement in war crimes. READ MORE

Béla Biszku receives suspended sentence

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2015

A pro-government commentator finds the light sentence handed down to a former high-ranking Communist leader outrageous, and accuses the court of falsifying history and encouraging delinquency. READ MORE

More bitter ruminations on the Biszku ruling

Thursday, June 4th, 2015

Right-wing columnists fulminate against the appeal court which annulled the prison sentence handed down to former Communist Party chieftain Béla Biszku for his role in the post-revolution reprisals in 1956. An expert says while the ruling was well founded legally it signals a defeat for the Judiciary. A left-wing commentator suggests that Biszku is despised in Hungary – even without a sentence. READ MORE

Biszku’s trial back to square one

Wednesday, June 3rd, 2015

A conservative commentator is disgusted by the ruling of the Budapest Appeal Court to scrap a five year prison sentence handed down by the first instance court to Béla Biszku, who as a key member of the Communist Party leadership in 1956 was accused of responsibility for the massacre of unarmed demonstrators after the anti-Communist revolt was crushed by the Soviet Union. READ MORE

Victims of Communism day

Friday, February 27th, 2015

Commenting on the commemorations for the Day of Remembrance for the Victims of Communism, a leading webmagazine suggests that the spiritual damage caused by decades of Communism still weighs heavily on Hungarian society. READ MORE

Béla Biszku indicted for war crimes

Saturday, October 19th, 2013

A pro-government editorial says Biszku should have been charged earlier – now, even if the 92 year old is sentenced, the desire of Hungarians for justice cannot be satisfied. READ MORE

Béla Biszku under investigation for war crimes in December 1956

Thursday, September 13th, 2012

Right-wing pundits believe that the criminal inquiry into the suspected war crimes of the former Communist politician is an important symbolic act which could serve historical reconciliation. Liberal columnists, however, worry that the government wants to use Biszku’s case against the opposition parties. READ MORE