Hungary’s President resigns after controversial pardon in child sex abuse case

HUNGARIAN President, Katalin Novák announced at the weekend she would resign, admitting she made a mistake by issuing a pardon last year for a man convicted in a child sex abuse case, a decision that sparked calls for her ouster af ter it was recently made public.

She announced her decision on Hungarian television, saying she made a mistake by issuing the pardon, which caused bewilderment and unrest for many people.

The pardon was issued because Novák believed the convicted man did not abuse the vulnerability of the children entrusted to him, though she noted the decision involved the lack of justification” that raised “doubts about zero tolerance for pedophilia.

Her resignation follows a string of protests outside Novák’s presidential office in Budapest over the last week, after Hungarian outlets revealed Novák pardoned the man, the former deputy director of a state- run children’s home who was sentenced to over three years in prison in 2018 for hiding a sex abuse scandal under the home’s former director.

Hungary’s former justice minister, Judit Varga who endorsed Novák’s pardon, said she would also resign as a member of the Hungarian parliament and retire from public life.

Novák was both the first woman and youngest person to be elected Hungary’s president after she won in 2022 at age 44, according to the Associated Press.

Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán submitted an amendment to the country’s constitution last Thursday, which would prevent the sitting President from issuing pardons involving crimes against children, according to Politico. Novák said she would sign the amendment into law.