Journalists at Hungary’s Magyar Hang weekly have faced unprecedented interrogations by the country’s intelligence agency, over false information published in the newspaper.
The Hungarian Constitutional Protection Office summoned Magyar Hang managing director Csaba Lukács, along with journalist Tamás Koncz and editor-in-chief Zsombor György, for questioning, including polygraph tests, in what the Magyar Hang described as a first in Hungarian democratic history.
The interrogations came shortly after Magyar Hang reported a false story about a “mysterious Syrian plane” allegedly carrying ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad to Budapest, based on a source that later disappeared.
Lukács said the misinformation was part of a setup aimed at discrediting the paper.
“Our conscience is clear. We have nothing to hide. We are fearless and determined,” the weekly’s editorial team said in a statement, rejecting the suggestion that independent journalism posed a national security threat.
“We were set up to destroy our newspaper,” said Lukács. “They really hate us because we are the only conservative newspaper that is not part of the propaganda machine.”
The journalists said they fear further steps to silence Magyar Hang. “We don’t know what they might be because this is unprecedented,” Lukács said.
The interrogations came shortly after Magyar Hang reported a false story about a “mysterious Syrian plane” allegedly carrying ousted Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad to Budapest, based on a source that later disappeared.
Lukács said the misinformation was part of a setup aimed at discrediting the paper.
“Our conscience is clear. We have nothing to hide. We are fearless and determined,” the weekly’s editorial team said in a statement, rejecting the suggestion that independent journalism posed a national security threat.
“We were set up to destroy our newspaper,” said Lukács. “They really hate us because we are the only conservative newspaper that is not part of the propaganda machine.”
The journalists said they fear further steps to silence Magyar Hang. “We don’t know what they might be because this is unprecedented,” Lukács said.
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