Hungary's President Katalin Novak resigns over pardoning man convicted in child sexual abuse case
Feb 11, 2024
Budapest [Hungary], February 11 : Hungary's President Katalin Novak resigned on Saturday after growing pressure for pardoning a man convicted of being involved in conspiring to conceal an instance of a sex abuse case in a children's home, according to Al Jazeera.
Announcing her resignation, Novak said, "I made a mistake...Today is the last day that I address you as president," she said in a speech broadcast on state television.
"I made a decision to grant a pardon last April, believing that the convict did not abuse the vulnerability of children whom he had overseen. I made a mistake as the pardon and the lack of reasoning was suitable to trigger doubts over the zero tolerance that applies to paedophilia," she added.
On Friday, at least a thousand protesters demonstrated in the nation's capital, calling for her resignation. Opposition parties in Hungary also called for her resignation.
Ahead of Pope Francis's visit in April 2023, Novak made the decision to pardon some two-dozen people in April 2023, including the deputy director of a children's home who had assisted the former director in hiding his wrongdoings.
In 2022, Endre K was given a sentence of three years and four months in prison. She also had a five-year ban from engaging in any activities or working in any capacity related to minors. However, Novak was freed and, permitted to return to his profession after receiving a pardon, according to Al Jazeera.
Novak is Conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban's former family minister and ally. She was also the youngest person to ever hold the position and the first female president in Hungary's history.
Her resignation from the presidential post was a rare instance of political unrest for Fidesz, the nationalist party that has governed Hungary since 2010 with a constitutional majority.
