Prosecutors filed charges Wednesday against Budapest’s opposition mayor Gergely Karacsony, seeking to fine him for organising the city’s Pride parade last June, which attracted record turnout despite an official ban.
Organisers estimated more than 200,000 people took part, in a rebuke of Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s years-long clampdown on LGBTQ rights in the name of “child protection”.
After the nationalist leader declared his intention to ban the celebration, his ruling coalition codified provisions into law and the constitution designed to prohibit the annual parade.
Budapest city hall stepped in to co-organise the event to try to sidestep the adopted regulations, but police still issued a ban and Orban warned organisers and attendees of “legal consequences”.
Prosecutors have “filed charges and seek a fine against the mayor of Budapest, who organised and led a public gathering despite a police ban,” their office said in a statement.
“The district prosecutor’s office proposed that the court impose a fine on the defendant in a summary judgement without a trial,” it added, without including any details on the amount of the fine sought.
Karacsony reacted to the charges by saying he went from a “proud suspect to a proud defendant”.
“They don’t even want a trial… because they can’t even comprehend that here in this city, we have stood up for freedom in the face of a selfish, petty, and despicable power,” he said on Facebook.
Karacsony, who was interrogated in August, could have faced up to one year in prison for organising and urging participation in a banned rally.
Participants could have faced fines up to 500 euros for attending the Pride parade, but police announced in July they would not take action against them.
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