Abstract
Even after the abolition of capital punishment, the debate over whether it was right to abolish the death penalty or whether it should be reinstated flared up again and again. Although Hungary is a party to several international conventions prohibiting the death penalty, and it also follows from Hungary’s Basic Law that capital punishment is unconstitutional, this issue still arises at the political level. This chapter undertakes to review the statements of Hungarian politicians expressing the need to reinstate the death penalty, with particular emphasis on the manifestations of those in government positions. Outstanding among these are the statements of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and several other pro-government politicians in decision-making positions, in which they expressed their agreement with capital punishment and the need to keep this issue on the political agenda.
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Notes
- 1.
Gábor Szabó: “Öltöztessük nemzeti színekbe a világot!” Interjú Nagy Ervinnel, a JOBBIK elnökével. (“Let us dress the world in national colours.” Interview with Ervin Nagy, the leader of the party Jobbik]) Kapu, 15 (2002: 6–7): 21.
- 2.
Magyar Nemzet, February 13, 2006, p. 3.
- 3.
Vas Népe, March 18, 2006, p. 3.
- 4.
Vasárnapi Hírek, July 9, 2006, p. 4.
- 5.
At the commemoration of the tragedy, Csanád Szegedi, one of the prominent members of the party argued that the death penalty has to be reintroduced (Vasárnapi Napló, October 29, 2006, p. 2).
- 6.
Háromszék, December 10, 2007, p. 2.
- 7.
Népszabadság, December 9, 2008, p. 4.
- 8.
Népszabadság, October 17, 2009, p. 2.
- 9.
Vas Népe, August 13, 2011, p. 2; Napló, March 24, 2012, p. 2.
- 10.
Magyar Hírlap, November 6, 2012, p. 2.
- 11.
E.g. Lóránt Budai (cf.: Népszabadság, January 8, 2014, p. 2); János Árgyelán, leader of the party’s Fejér county Article (Fejér Megyei Hírlap, January 21, 2014, p. 2); Lajos Kepli (Napló,April 5, 2014, p. 5).
- 12.
Magyar Nemzet, May 2, 2015, p. 1.
- 13.
Népszava, August 14, 2018, p. 3.
- 14.
Cf. e.g.: Napló, July 27, 2018, p. 2.
- 15.
Magyar Hírlap, January 8, 2020.
- 16.
Magyar Hang, May 21, 2019.
- 17.
Magyar Hírlap, January 8, 2020.
- 18.
Népszabadság, March 24, 2006, p. 2.
- 19.
Magyar Nemzet, March 6, 1995, p. 4.
- 20.
Ibid.
- 21.
Magyar Nemzet, March 8, 1995, p. 6.
- 22.
Új Magyarország, June 11,1996.
- 23.
Népszabadság, June 10, 1996, p. 1.
- 24.
Népszava, June 10, 1996, p. 2.
- 25.
Magyar Nemzet, June 7, 1996, p. 5.
- 26.
Népszava, June 6, 1996, p. 2.
- 27.
Napló, April 16, 1998, p. 2.
- 28.
Népszava, April 16, 1998, p. 2.
- 29.
Népszava, 20 July, 2012, p. 3.
- 30.
Ibid.
- 31.
“We can debate on whether we need the death penalty or not, or on whether it is right or not. But I would rather say that such debate is ill-timed at the moment.” (Népszava, November 6, 2012, p. 3.)
- 32.
Napló, November 6, 2012, p. 2.
- 33.
Magyar Hírlap, November 6, 2012, p. 2.
- 34.
Cf. e.g.: Magyar Nemzet, April 4, 2014, pp. 1 and 5.
- 35.
Népszava, April 29, 2015, p. 3.
- 36.
Magyar Nemzet, April 29, 2015, p. 3.
- 37.
Ibid.
- 38.
Magyar Nemzet, April 30, 2015, p. 3.
- 39.
Ibid.
- 40.
Ibid.
- 41.
Népszabadság, April 30, 2015, p. 1.
- 42.
Népszava, 3April 30, 2015, p. 13.
- 43.
Ibid.
- 44.
Ibid.
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Toth, Z.J. (2020). Revived Debate on the Death Penalty in the Political Scene. In: Changing Attitudes Towards the Death Penalty. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-47557-4_16
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