(Amnesty Hungary – 29 November 2019) Reacting to a November 29 news report by Hungarian daily Nepszava that MTVA, the Hungarian government-controlled news agency, in internal communication earlier this month, ordered its staff not to report on statements from Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, Dávid Vig, Director of Amnesty International Hungary, said:
“It is scandalous that Hungarian state media is censoring the vital information that Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch publish. This a further blow to media freedom and an additional restriction of NGOs in Hungary.
“The government is wilfully denying people in Hungary access to vital information about human rights abuses in Hungary and around the world.”
This a further blow to media freedom and an additional restriction of NGOs in Hungary
Hugh Williamson, Europe and Central Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said:
“Any ban by Hungary state media to disseminate human rights reporting by Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International would be unacceptable and is not worthy of an EU member state.
“It would be another example of the Hungarian government’s steps to undermine media freedom and attempts to silence and interfere with the vital work of civil society organizations.”
For more information or to arrange an interview, contact Amnesty International: Stefan Simanowitz or Alison Abrahams on press@amnesty.org alison.abrahams@amnesty.org +32 2 548 27 73 or +32 483 680 812, Human Rights Watch: Lydia Gall on Lydia.gall@hrw.org, +36 702 748 328
Hungarian state media censors Amnesty and HRW – joint statement by @hrw+@amnesty
“The government is wilfully denying people in Hungary access to vital information about human rights abuses in Hungary and around the world.” – @divaDgiV @AmnestyHungaryhttps://t.co/JYUUVTcm8L pic.twitter.com/62BvjqJPUI
— Amnesty Hungary (@AmnestyHungary) November 29, 2019