1987. december (144-152. szám) / HU_BFL_XIV_47_2
Ol 2.4/D Little Russell Street, LONDONI, WC.L • Tel. 04~*SO n 26 • G. Rrassé 145/1987 (E) 9th December, 1987 Letter to the Vienna Press Conference on Humán Rights The following letter was sent by the associates of the INCONNU Independent Árts Group (Budapest) and the Hungárián October Freepress (London) to the participants of the International press conference held in Vienna on 9th December on the occasion of the day of humán rights: "We, the undersigned Hungárián citizens, would like to inform with this letter the participants of the press conference held on the day of humán rights about worrysome tendencies we experience to prevail in our country. We would like to speak about those who have attempted to contribute to the spread of artistic and spiritual freedom in Hungary since years ago. They are the ones who, even in the most difficult circumstances, keep alive the cause of national and political culture - important fór everybody. An increasingly harsh administrative campaign had begun in our country against the representatives, contributors and readers of the independent democratic press. This is nothing bút State sponsored violance against the freedom of the spirit, based on an alliance between bureaucratic censorship and police arbitrariness. This contradicts basically to the principles of legality, humanitarianism and Creative cultural freedom. Home raids, Street harassments have taken piacé fifteen times as from January 1987. Members of the police, frequently without identifying themselves, took away printed or duplicated matter, manuseripts and even personal notes at the occasions of their long-lasting searches. They have done so at times without any official records left behind. There were unlawful decisions enacted which ordered the destruction of the confiscated materials regardless of their personal character or cultural and historical value. Writings of A.Koestler, G.Orwell, M.Bulgakhov, O.Jászi, I.Bibó, G.Hervay, G.Konrád shared this fate with several other works. Sixty-four Hungárián dissidents and other intellectuals turnéd with an open letter to all M.P.'s and to the electorate in April 1 987. The authorities didn't even deign to answer. Fines, amounting altogether to more than 120,000 forints, have been imposed on dissidents. The vast majority of those fined refused to pay, partly of political, partly of financial reasons. According to the presently valid legal regulations they can be jailed as a result. We turn therefore to all those concerned about humán and civil rights, requesting them to support, with their faith in Creative freedom and with their morál authority, the independent cultural activity pursued by various groups of the Hungárián Democratic Movement fór the right of free self-expression and against institutionalized censorship. 9th December 1987, Budapest - London. Associates of INCONNU Independent Árts Group (Budapest) and Hungárián October Freepress (London): Peter Bokros - Tamás Molnár - György Krassó - Róbert Pálinkás - Tibor Philipp - Magdi Serfőző
