Conservative bill to penalise political video hoaxes
October 31st, 2013A moderate legal analyst opposes a bill tabled by four pro-government MPs with the intention of deterring potential copy-cat stunts based on the ill-famed forged electoral video from Baja.
In Mandiner, Bea Makó argues that the libel paragraph of the Criminal Code already makes it possible for the authorities to indict both the authors and publishers of any kind of forged evidence detrimental to the honour of any other person. She considers it therefore “completely useless” to create a special rule for video and audio forgery as suggested by prominent right-wing MPs after the Baja case (See BudaPost, October 24). Parliament, she believes, should in fact move in the opposite direction, as slander should be punished under civil law and should be erased from the Criminal Code. “Political mouth karate is not a matter for the Criminal Code to regulate”, Bakó suggests. The bill only serves “the constant propensity of the governing parties to come forward with ever newer and more rigorous legislation”, she concludes.