HUNGARY Hungary Head of state: János Áder Head of government: Viktor Orbán An amendment to the Constitution allowed the government to declare a state of emergency under broad and vaguely worded conditions, with little democratic oversight. Roma continued to face discrimination and to be victims of hate crimes. Hungary continued its systematic crackdown on the rights of refugees and migrants despite growing international criticism. COUNTER-TERROR AND SECURITY The government continued to extend the use of anti-terror legislation. In January, the European Court of Human Rights found in Szabó and Vissy v Hungary that the Law on Police violated the applicants’ right to respect for private and family life as it enabled the executive to intercept any communications without supporting evidence and for extended periods of time. The Court found that Hungary failed to ensure adequate judicial oversight and effective remedies against unlawful surveillance. In June, Parliament adopted a “Sixth Amendment” to Hungary’s Fundamental Law (Constitution) introducing a broadly worded definition of a state of emergency on the grounds of a “terror threat situation” that did not meet the tests required under international human rights law. The package would allow the government to introduce wide-ranging powers, including: restricting freedom of movement within the country; freezing assets of states, individuals, organizations and legal entities; banning or restricting events and public assemblies; and applying undefined special measures to prevent terrorism, without judicial or full parliamentary oversight. Those powers could be increased after 15 days if approved by Parliament. Such a state of emergency would also grant wide powers for the security forces to use firearms in circumstances which went Amnesty International Report 2016/17 well beyond what was permitted under international law and standards. In late November, a Syrian national was sentenced to ten years’ imprisonment for “acts of terror” for his involvement in clashes with Hungarian border guards at a SerbiaHungary border crossing in September 2015. Both parties appealed the first-instance decision. FREEDOM OF ASSOCIATION In October, the supposedly independent Government Control Office (Kormányzati Ellenőrzési Hivatal, known as KEHI) was compelled by court order to disclose the paper trail of its 2014 ad hoc audit of several NGOs critical of government policies, revealing that it was ordered personally by the Prime Minister. The audit involved police raids, confiscation of computers and servers and lengthy investigations, but ended without finding any criminal wrongdoing. Government representatives continued to threaten several NGOs involved with further investigations, which contributed to a chilling effect on civil society. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION – JOURNALISTS Népszabadság – a newspaper critical of the government – abruptly suspended publication in October 2016 and all the journalists were discharged. The shutdown was carried out days before the company was sold to an entrepreneur close to the government. JUSTICE SYSTEM In June, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights found in Baka v Hungary that terminating the mandate of the President of the Hungarian Supreme Court on account of his criticisms of legislative reforms was contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights. It found a violation of Article 6 paragraph 1 (right of access to a court) and of Article 10 (freedom of expression). 181