Hungary’s President Katalin Novak resigns

DEVELOPING STORYDEVELOPING STORY,

Announcement follows outrage over Novak’s pardoning of a man convicted in a child sexual abuse case.

Hungarian President Katalin Novak has resigned.

Novak announced her resignation on Saturday after coming under mounting pressure for pardoning a man convicted as an accomplice for helping cover up a sex abuse case in a children’s home.

“I made a mistake … Today is the last day that I address you as a President,” she said in a speech broadcast on state television.

At least 1,000 people protested in the country’s capital on Friday demanding her resignation. Hungarian opposition parties had also demanded she leave office.

Novak decided to pardon some two dozen people in April 2023, ahead of a visit by Pope Francis, among them the deputy director of a children’s home who helped the former director of the home hide his crimes.

She had said on Tuesday that she would never pardon a paedophile, including in this case. She said the reason behind her decision was not public and all pardons were divisive by their nature.

Novak is an ally and former family minister of conservative Prime Minister Viktor Orban.

More to come…