Budapest's chief prosecutor asks court to disband right-wing group

Dec 17, 2007, 17:14 GMT

Budapest - The Budapest chief prosecutor's office on Monday asked a court to disband an extreme right-group that has raised fears in the Hungarian Jewish and Roma communities.

The office presented Budapest Municipal Court with the official request after the Magyar Garda (Hungarian Guard) was deemed to have indulged in racist activities.

Some 260 members of the guard, sporting black uniforms that Jewish groups have said resemble those worn by Second World War fascists, eight days ago marched through a town near Budapest in an anti-Roma march.

Chief Prosecutor Tamas Kovacs, speaking in parliament, said that with the march the guard had reached a point that was 'incompatible with a democratic state'.

The prosecutor's office said that the Hungarian Guard was guilty of racial discrimination and had created a climate of fear among Hungary's Roma community.

Spokesman Attila Morvai said the group was unconstitutional and the request to disband it was backed up international laws.

The formation of the Magyar Garda by extreme-right party Jobbik in August prompted outrage from Jewish groups, politicians and other civil society bodies.

The guard, which now has around 600 members, has chosen as its coat of arms a variation on the red-and-white Arpad Stripes, a medieval flag that became associated with Hungary's Nazi-aligned Arrow Cross party in power for a brief period during World War II.

The far right has been in the public eye since anti-government riots that followed the leak of a tape in September 2006 on which Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsany admitted he had lied about the economy.

While the violence has died down, right-wing protestors have persistently infiltrated anti-government demonstrations and scuffled with police throughout 2007.

Many are worried about a perceived rise in violent right-wing activity, and worries were further heightened on Sunday when an organization calling itself the Hungarian Arrows National Liberation Army claimed responsibility for the beating of a TV journalist who criticized the far-right.

The group also said it had thrown Molotov cocktails at the homes of Socialist MPs.