1987. május (53-73. szám) / HU_BFL_XIV_47_2
í'j (Mii 24/D Littl« Ru»kcll Street, LONDON, WC.i Ttl 01-4*0 t< u ■ G. Kranó 60/1987 /E/ 12th May, 1987 Hungárián Democratic Opposition Members Banned Prom Foreign Travel The refusal of pasaport applications ranks among the measures taken to roll back the opposition in Hungary. Recently the passport applications of the mathema- tician Miklós Sulyok, the engineer Imre Mécs and the sociologist Ottilia Solt have been refused by the police authorities. The reasons usually given - without further explanation - fór these decisions are, that the applicant's travel violatea public interests or the public order, the applicaiion of Ottilia Solt, however, has been refused on the grounds that a criminal proceeding is going on against her. There is no criminal process in progress against Ottilia Solt, at least she doesn't know about it. The application fór exit visa of Miklós Vásárhelyi, histórián of the press has alsó been refused. Vásárhelyi would have participated in an intemational histo- rians' conference on the invitation of the Italian Communist Party. Alsó on the increase is the number of passport withdrawals, i.e. cases when participants of the democratic opposition movement are excluded from foreign travel fór a longer period. Last year the passports of Tibor Pákh and Ferenc Kőszeg vere withdrawn fór five years on the grounds that they behaved in a way "unworthy of a Citizen of the Hungárián People's Republic" during their earlier stay abroad. According to recent news, now the passport of the histórián of literature and reviewer István Orosz has been seized by the police on similar grounds. István Orosz, who in the la3t year continued research in England with scholarship,announced the following statement about the withdrawal of his passport: "The decision of the police headquarters of the county Pest, passed on 8 April, 1987» excluded the reviewer István Orosz from foreign travel until the 26 March, 1992. The decision contains as reasons that the aforementioned person behaved abroad in a manner unworthy of a Citizen of the Hungárián People's Republic. As one of the officials of the Ministry of Interior made known to István Orosz in a lengthy monologue, the disapproval of the Hungárián authorities was due first of all to the artiele, which the reviewer published in the 3/1987 issue of the 'Irodalmi Újság' (Literary Gazette of Paris under the title "An unbiassed apology of the unintentional criminals,or whether the squaring of the circle is possible". The artiele criticises the monograph of György Száraz /entitled 'The General'/ about György Pálffy* and states among others that the responsibility fór the grave violations of legality in the fifties doesn't rest exclusively on the shoulders of Communists retumed from exile in Moscow. In this context the writing alsó discusses the 1949 activity of János Kádár in a rather critical way which - at least in the police's point of view - can be by no means worthy of a Citizen of the Hungárián People's Republic. István Orosz thought it necessary at the end of the police questioning to pút in writing that he violated during his stay abroad neither the laws of the recipient country, nor that of the Hungárián People's Republic. His behaviour has been in accordance with the constitution of the Hungárián People's Republic, which assures the freedom of expression fór every Hungárián Citizen. He presented, however, no appeal against the decision, because ** The Hungárián army generál György Palffy was tried and executed as one of the chief defendants of the Rajk-trial in 1949. Cx
