Budapest Mayor Must Issue Apology To PM Orbán's Son-In-Law, Court Rules
- 9 Jun 2021 8:52 AM
- Hungary Matters
A court has ruled that Budapest Mayor Gergely Karácsony must issue an apology to István Tiborcz, Viktor Orbán’s son-in-law, for branding a property tax “the Tiborcz tax”.
Besides a public apology, Karácsony will also have to pay a fine of 500,000 forints (EUR 1,400) to Tiborcz, according to the binding ruling.
Tiborcz sued Karácsony after the mayor called a planned local property tax “the Tiborcz tax” during the local election campaign in 2018, Perfect Partner Communication said in a press release.
The appeal court said Karácsony had exploited Tiborcz’s name in the hope of gaining political advantage during the campaign by exploiting the “public’s supposed negative perception” of the entrepreneur.
The lawsuit was based on an earlier court ruling that Tiborcz’s family ties to the prime minister did not mean he could be treated as a public figure.
Karácsony said in response on Facebook that “the prime minister’s son-in-law did not manage to tell the truth even in a case involving his own name”.
“After losing at court in a first ruling, he has achieved a tie as a result of the second ruling, but we will carry on and now preparing to file an appeal to the supreme court Kuria,” he added.
“And, by the way, István Tiborcz is a public figure even according to the second ruling,” he said.
MTI Photo: Szilárd Koszticsák
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