Hungary charges Budapest mayor over role in banned Pride march

BUDAPEST, Jan 28 - Hungarian prosecutors have brought charges against Budapest's liberal mayor, Gergely Karacsony, over his role in arranging an LGBTQ+ rights rally, and are seeking to impose a fine without holding a trial, they said on Wednesday.

Tens of thousands of protesters marched through Budapest last June despite a police ban, turning the Pride march into one of the biggest anti-government demonstrations in years against nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

Prosecutors said Karacsony violated the law by organising and leading a banned assembly.

"The district prosecutor's office has proposed that the court impose a fine against the defendant by means of a penal order, without holding a trial," they said.

Karacsony had attempted to circumvent the ban by registering the Pride march as a municipal event, which he argued did not require a permit.

Police nevertheless prohibited it, saying it fell under the child‑protection law. The march ultimately went ahead peacefully.

"I went from being a proud suspect to a proud defendant. Because it seems that this is the price to be paid in this country if we stand up for our own freedom and that of others," Karacsony wrote on his official Facebook page on Wednesday.

Orban's government has steadily curtailed the rights of the LGBTQ+ community in the past decade, and lawmakers passed a law in March 2025 allowing Pride marches to be banned on grounds of protecting children.

Critics say the move is part of a wider crackdown on democratic freedoms ahead of an election set for April 12, when Orban faces his toughest challenge in 16 years.

Most polls say that the centre-right Tisza party has a nine to 12 point lead ahead of Orban's Fidesz. REUTERS