June 4th, 2009

Police union banned from cooperating with Jobbik, party defiant

An investigation by Hungary’s Chief Public Prosecutor’s Office has concluded that the cooperation agreement concluded between the police trade union TRMSZ and the radical nationalist Jobbik party should be cancelled as the union’s president and general secretary had not been legally authorised to sign the document, national daily Nepszabadsag says on Thursday.

TMRSZ is a grouping within the police force whose general secretary is a non-party member but features on Jobbik’s list of candidates for the European parliamentary elections.

The investigation was initiated by national police chief Jozsef Bencze, who asked the prosecutor’s office to establish whether the union operated legally.

Zoltan Borbely, spokesman for the prosecutor’s office, cited the union’s statutes as stating that TRMSZ identifies and implements its goals independently of any government agency, political and social organisation. Its programme also declares that the union operates independently from any party or movement.

The prosecutor’s office, however, established that TRMSZ leaders had not acted in line with the statutes and the programme when they signed the cooperation agreement.

The office called upon TRMSZ to cancel the pact within 30 days.

Jobbik vowed on Thursday to continue its cooperation with TRMSZ. In a statement to MTI, Jobbik insisted that the prosecutor’s office did not have the legal authority to investigate the operation of the union, while the advocate general of the relevant county considered the agreement between the two sides to be legal.

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