This is the beginning of a letter written by Richard Field, an American who has offered some support to Hungary’s Roma, to the Budapest Times. (I blogged about the events it refers to here.)
Dear Editor,
On 7 June the Fidesz-controlled parliament formally voted to establish a “fact-finding committee” to investigate: (1) the circumstances surrounding the transportation of Roma residents of Gyöngyöspata to holiday camps over Easter, (2) who “falsely claimed” this was an evacuation and why, (3) what role I played in all of this and “whose interests” I served by “falsely stating” that an evacuation had taken place, (4) what “domestic or foreign organisations supported my involvement” and what “foreign media outlets” were involved, (5) whose interest was served by “falsely portraying Hungary as being in a state of civil war” and “providing false information portraying Hungary in a negative light,” (6) what role opposition parties or opposition party members played in all of this, and (7) what domestic or foreign individuals “organised and supported financially those individuals, groups, and organisations falsely and illegally portrayed themselves as enforcers of the law in Gyöngyöspata and elsewhere”.
The Hungarian Civil Rights Union (TASZ) immediately denounced committee proceedings as reminiscent of the political show trials of the 1930s and 1950s, arguing that “an impartial investigation of these events should not begin its work with foregone conclusions as to who was guilty and what the truth is”.
This committee seems to have a ‘when did you stop beating your wife’ approach to fact-finding, to say the least.
Here is the rest of the letter.
And here is some further commentary on Field.