Balogh was reportedly drunk during the incident that occured April 28, and his wife suffered multiple fractures, including a broken nose, and other injuries.

“József Balogh is no longer a member of Fidesz,” said Máté Kocsis in a statement to the press this morning. “There’s no explanation for this [behavior],” said the party spokesman, adding that it’s completely at odds with the family values that Fidesz tries to promote.

Many of the reports that have appeared in the international press have neglected some important facts about how Fidesz has responded to this case, so I’d like to set the record straight.

When it first became apparent in May that Mr. Balogh may have beaten his wife, his membership in the Fidesz parliamentary group was immediately terminated. His parliamentary immunity has also been revoked. Although his court trial has not yet started, his membership in the party was suspended after his confession to prosecutors became public.

József Balogh has been a directly elected member of the Parliament since 1998 and with Fidesz beginning in 2002. He can lose his seat only by a decision of the court or if he resigns. He now caucuses as an independent.

Some have suggested that this case is an illustration of a larger problem of domestic abuse in Hungarian society and a tendency of government institutions and law enforcement to look the other way. Human Rights Watch issued a report on the subject today. We may return to that later. But in the specific case of Mr. Balogh, the ruling party has handed him the strongest possible political consequences.

By Ferenc Kumin

Source: A Blog About Hungary

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