Radical nationalist Mi Hazánk deputy leader Előd Novák’s vandalisation of the Soviet Red Army monument in Budapest’s Liberty Square in 2015 is considered a violent act and does not fall under the right to freedom of expression, the Kúria, Hungary’s supreme court, ruled on Thursday, ordering a new trial in the case.
The top court said in a statement that it annulled a binding ruling issued in the case in which Novák was acquitted of criminal damage charges. The Kúria ordered a new first-instance trial.
According to the indictment, Novák, then a politician of the nationalist Jobbik party, and another suspect attempted to forcefully remove the hammer and sickle symbol from the monument in October 2015 but were prevented from doing so by police.