MTVA: ‘Varju criminal, court says’
Laszlo Varju of the leftist opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) "can now be called a criminal", Hungary's public media foundation MTVA said on Thursday, commenting on a sentence handed down earlier in the day to the politician for rowdy behaviour.
According to MTVA’s statement, Varju had been one of leftist deputies that forced entry to MTVA headquarters in 2018, provoking “a scandal by trying to take control over the studios and interrupt broadcasting”.
The intruders “violated the personal rights of MTVA staff” and hindered them in doing their jobs, the statement said. Meanwhile, Varju “attacked security staff, and when he was on the ground grabbed one of them by the foot and caused him to fall to the ground, causing serious injury,” it added.
MTVA said it rejected “any attempt to interfere in the operations of the independent media, be it political pressure or physical violence,” the statement said.
