Béla Biszku dies at 94

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

Béla Biszku receives suspended sentence

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.

More bitter ruminations on the Biszku ruling

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 ...

Biszku’s trial back to square one

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 ...

Right-wing comments on Béla Biszku’s sentence

According to a pro-government daily, the Hungarian left is soft on Béla Biszku, and asks for a symbolic sentence, but did not protest when the Wiesenthal Center accused Hungary of not being tough enough on Sándor Képíró, who stood trial for War crimes in 1942, and was acquitted. Another pro-government ...

Biszku sentenced for war crimes

Left and liberal papers question the wisdom of the prison sentence handed down to Béla Biszku, a former high ranking communist, for war crimes committed after the 1956 revolution. They echo the arguments of the defence that the trial was politically motivated.

Béla Biszku indicted for war crimes

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.

Béla Biszku under investigation for war crimes in December 1956

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.

Victims of Communism day

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.

Former communist persecutor to face prosecution

A pro-government columnist finds it disturbing that the left-wing media, which is quick to demand the prosecution of alleged Nazi-era criminals, is silent in the case of György Mátsik, an iconic figure of the Communist purges in the aftermath of the 1956 revolution. The right-wing commentator believes that crimes ...