Hungarians silently protest bill ‘muzzling’ NGOs, media

BUDAPEST: Thousands marched in silence, many with their mouths taped shut, in central Budapest on Sunday to protest a planned law that would allow the government to sanction “foreign-funded” NGOs and media.

Critics consider the bill “on transparency in public life” as the latest attempt by nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban to muzzle dissenting voices since returning to power in 2010. The legislation would empower the government to blacklist organisations that “threaten the sovereignty of Hungary by using foreign funding to influence public life”.

The government argues these measures are necessary to defend against “foreign interference”. “I believe it is important to have an independent press, and not to judge a publication based on where it gets its money from,” one of the protesters, 49-year-old Zsolt Solyom, a retired soldier, told AFP.

“What I see is that the government wants to silence any media outlet that does not speak or write according to its liking,” he added. An AFP photographer estimated that a few thousand people marched through Liberty Bridge in central Budapest in complete silence.

“Donation today, evidence of crime tomorrow?” read one of the banners. The crowd later erupted in boos and chants denouncing the ruling party as an organiser read the names of all 115 lawmakers co-sponsoring the bill.