A former senior Communist Party official went on trial in Hungary today charged with war crimes over the suppression of the 1956 anti-Soviet uprising, in a landmark case that may help the country face up to its communist past.
More than two decades after the fall of communism, Hungarian prosecutors have charged 92-year-old Bela Biszku over his role on a committee of the Communist Party they say was involved in ordering the shootings of civilians during protests in Budapest and in the town of Salgotarjan in December 1956.
The trial has drawn strong domestic media attention ahead of a national election on April 6th. It became possible under a law passed by prime minister Viktor Orban’s ruling Fidesz party that says war crimes and crimes against humanity do not lapse.
In the packed Budapest courtroom, the front row was partly occupied by lawmakers of the far-right opposition party Jobbik which initiated the proceedings against Mr Biszku in 2012.
Mr Biszku, who was one of Hungary’s most powerful leaders in communist times and is the first to stand trial, walked into the courtroom with a cane.
Wearing a grey suit and dark blue-rimmed glasses, he responded to the judge in a firm voice: “I do not wish to testify.”
Mr Biszku has previously denied all accusations against him.
The 1956 uprising against the Soviet-backed government in Budapest represented the first major threat to Moscow's control of eastern Europe after the end of World War Two.
Hundreds of people were executed and tens of thousands were imprisoned after the revolution was crushed by Soviet tanks. Mr Biszku then served as interior minister from 1957 to 1961.
Prosecutors say Mr Biszku was a member of a committee of the Communist Party in 1956 that created armed militia to maintain order and carry out retaliations after the revolution was crushed. They say this party committee directly governed the leading body of the militia, the so called Military Council.
Prosecutor Tamas Vegh said Mr Biszku had abetted the shooting of several people in Budapest on December 6th, 1956 and in Salgotarjan on December 8th, 1956, in a war crime that carries a maximum sentence of life imprisonment. Mr Biszku's lawyer Gabor Magyar said the accusations were unfounded.
"With relation to the shootings it needs to be proven that a political opinion expressed in a political committee was a specific call for action, based on which somebody fired guns in Salgotarjan or Budapest," Mr Magyar told reporters. "I think there is no written evidence ... that would underpin this."
Mr Magyar added the trial should have been delayed until after the election as it could become part of the political campaign.
Reuters