Hungary: Pride Organiser Faces Up to a Year in Jail

For the first time in European Union history, an individual may face criminal charges for organising a Pride march.

Géza Buzás-Hábel, a gay Romani schoolteacher, human rights activist, and leader of the Diverse Youth Network, organised a peaceful LGBTI+ Pride march attended by hundreds of people in the city of Pécs, Hungary, on 4 October.

He did so in open defiance of a police order declaring the event “a banned assembly” under Hungary’s draconian anti-Pride law, which came into effect in April 2025.

Police Investigation Moves to Prosecutor’s Office

On 28 October, police questioned Buzás-Hábel as a suspect in the crime of “organising a banned assembly”. The investigation’s findings have reportedly been forwarded to the Office of the Chief Prosecutor for a decision on the next steps.

If prosecutors file formal charges, he could face up to one year in prison. Amnesty International has urged the Prosecutor’s Office to immediately close the proceedings.

Amnesty described the investigation as “an undue interference in the exercise of the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly, freedom of expression, and non-discrimination under European and international human rights law.” It added that “this case marks a troubling escalation in the criminalisation of LGBTI+ expression and peaceful assembly in Hungary.”

“I Will Not Call Myself Guilty”

Speaking to the European Roma Rights Centre after giving his statement to the police, Buzás-Hábel said: “I will not call myself guilty for exercising a fundamental right.”

He continued: “If Hungary, as an EU Member State, can criminalise peaceful assembly for LGBTQI+ people, it can do so for any group. When a basic democratic right is taken away from one group, it can be denied to anyone. And that is a sign of the collapse of democratic values and protections.”

Civil Society Condemns “Politically Motivated” Case

Hungarian civil society organisations issued a joint statement asserting that the case “is actually a politically motivated proceeding, the aim of which is to scare everyone from exercising their right to peaceful assembly and from standing up for the values that are important to them.”

They said it is “unacceptable that those who peacefully stand up for the equal rights of people belonging to sexual and gender minorities, as well as for freedom of assembly, which is one of the most important achievements of democracy, are threatened with criminal proceedings and punishment.”

Calls for EU Action

ILGA-Europe stressed that “no EU citizen should face criminal charges or imprisonment for organising a peaceful protest,” and urged the European Union to act against Hungary for violating the values and EU laws it committed to when joining the bloc.

“If Géza Buzás-Hábel is jailed for organising Pécs Pride, it will represent a direct attack on the fundamental freedoms that the European Union was created to protect,” the organisation warned.

In March, the Hungarian Parliament rushed through legislation banning Pride marches nationwide under the pretext of “protecting” children. The provisions also allow authorities to use facial recognition technology to track and fine participants.