With the vote of 306 MPs, Parliament has lifted the immunity of former prime minister Ferenc Gyurcsány, MP. Through this, the investigation against him has taken a dramatic turn. Two decades ago we believed that Hungary had finally left behind autocracy and the fear from those in power. We believed that freedom, the rule of law, democracy were ours forever.
We were wrong.
Amongst the depleted façades of democracy a new autocracy is being constructed, and society is relearning fear. It seems that those in power can do anything. They can pass laws, grind down the press, take away our rights, confiscate our possessions; they can even take our freedom as they please.  They can put into jail anyone – above all their political opponents.
Ferenc Gyurcsány is facing a show trial. The accusation is fictitious; the criminal action serves not the truth but those in power. There has not been a similar case since the Rákosi era, since the retribution following the ’56 revolution. The last Hungarian prime minister standing in a trial was Imre Nagy.
Viktor Orbán and his companions – those who consent to be his accomplices – have today crossed a line from where there is no return. They may hope that they can erase the democratic Hungary of the last two decades from the minds of all of us, they may hope that they can intimidate us, too.
They are wrong.
They cannot intimidate us by launching a show trial against the former prime minister. They cannot take Hungary back to the fifties anymore. We Hungarian democrats despise autocracy along with those exercising it.
We stand up for the former prime minister of the Republic of Hungary who is threatened by a show trial.
We stand up for freedom, for the rule of law, and for democracy.
Budapest, 12th September 2011.
Tamás Bauer, (economist), József Debreceni (political scientist), Gáspár Miklós Tamás (philosopher), Sándor Radnóti (aesthete), Imre Mécs (engineer), Szabolcs Kerék-Bárczy (writer), László Békesi (economist), János Kenedy (critic), Péter Niedermüller (cultural anthropologist), Mária Vásárhelyi (sociologist), Zoltán Ripp (historian), László Márton (writer), Júlia Váradi (journalist), Iván Sándor (writer), Gábor Gadó (economist), Zoltán Fleck (legal sociologist), Tibor Huszár (academic), Rudolf Ungváry (writer), Péter Kende (academic), Ágnes Heller (philosopher), Károly Attila Soós (economist), László Eörsi (historian), László Seres (journalist), Gábor Halmai (constitutional lawyer), Katalin Jánosi (artist), András Simonovits (economist), Zsuzsa Ferge (sociologist), Zoltán Sz. Bíró (historian), Mrs. György Litván (historian), Péter Agárdi (literature historian, university professor), Gábor Iványi (pastor), Julianna P. Szűcs (journalist), Gábor Demszky (lawyer, sociologist), Zsolt Gréczy (journalist), Éva Várhegyi (economist), Júlia Szalay (sociologist), Júlia Orbán (engineer – economist), László Garai (psychologist), András Rényi (art historian), Jerne Szűgyi (psychologist), János Lukács (philosopher), Gábor Lukács (mathematician), Mrs. Pál Kertész (chemist), Tamás Vekerdy (psychologist), István Vágo (TV host), Magda Kósáné Kovács (politician), Lajos Parti Nagy (poet), Júlia Láng (writer), Gábor Görgey (writer), András Váradi (biochemist), Gabriella Béki (sociologist), Ferenc Erős (psychologist), Mária Ormos (historian), Zsófi Mihancsik (journalist), Vera Láncos (lawyer), Marianna Moór (actress), Hédi Volosin (political scientist), András Gyekiczky (lawyer, sociologist), György Dalos (writer), Édeske István Haraszty (artist), Gábor Kuncze (former MP), Károly Vörös T. (journalist), Géza Komoróczy (historian), Julianna Kardos (chemical researcher), János Schiffer (lawyer), Eszter Rádai (journalist), Zotán Szabó (former MP), Ágnes Erdélyi (philosopher), Péter Fábri (writer), László Donáth (pastor), Gábor Pápai (caricaturist), Ferenc Patali (social psychologist), Kati Molnár (organiser).