1987. december (144-152. szám) / HU_BFL_XIV_47_2

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2.4/D Little Rotsell Street, LONDON, WC.L • Tel. Ol-tsO 21 26 • G. Rros-sé 152/1987 (E) 31st December, 1987

Old Storv - New Law

In recent months there has been much both in the Hungárián and foreign press about the new passport decree uhich facilitates travel to the West and - so it is said - makes it an actual civil right. According to articles about the new regulation those who have passports - if they have hard currency - can, from January lst, travel more often and authorization proceedings will be simplified. These modifications were apposite a long time ago and their enactment must be welcomed.

Bút there were those who had reservations about the new law. Economists pointed out the danger of the division between the official Western currency and black- market rate of exchange becoming greater, as many will only be able to get hold of the currency needed to travel from the latter. Protests were made in the Parliáment’s Law Commission against the government decree because true to current practice the Presidential Council issued the decree and pariiamentary represent- v atives could nőt vote on or debate this question. Apart from this many people thought that the announcement of these modifications was done chiefly to serve prop aganda objectives at home and abroad and has nothing to do with dramatic changes or liberalisation. Theoretically travel has been a civil right fór somé time and those who had money and who were nőt fórbidden could go at will. Pol- itical discrimination is maintained: those who the internál authorities do nőt wish to travel are refused a passport on the grounds that it is to safeguard public order and the public interest. Debates within power circles should have been more incisive as the new decree has dragged on fór an unusually long time: on the eve of its enactment - more than three months after its announcement in parliament - the interested partiés still did nőt know the final text of the decree.

The Ministry of the Interior was quick to point out that passport issuance will still be used as a means of political blackmail. Tamás Molnár, a graphic artist, was prohibited from all foreign travel fór three years the day before yesterday. Tamás Molnár, who lives in Budapest, was in Szolnok visiting his mother when on December 29th at 1 pm detectives arrived at the fiat to deliver the decision which was dated the same day and had no fiié number and to, take his passport away. According to the justification fór the decision Molnár had "behaved in a manner nőt befitting a Citizen of the Hungárián Peoples Republic" while he was abroad and "due to this action" he is fórbidden to travel abroad until November 30th 1990.

After the lawyer Tibor Pákh, the language teacher Ferenc Kőszeg and the critic István Orosz Molnár is the fourth person known of whose passport has been with- drawn fór several years fór the same reason since last summer. Tamás Molnár is a member of the independent art group INGONNU and h% organised many exhibitions and commemorations in priváté flats. He was issued a passport enabling him to travel to the West fór the first time in his life this year and he spent nearly two months in Germany, Francé and England. On October 23rd he took part in a commemoration of the revolution in London, on November 7th he spoke at an English Labour Party Conference and gave interviews to the BBC and Rádió Free Europe.

On arriving home the Hungárián internál authorities confiscated U.N. declarations on humán rights from him.

On the last day of 1987 another member of the INCONNU group Peter Bokros was sought in his Budapest fiat by the police. They wanted to withdraw his passport as well bút did nőt find him at home, his partner refused to give them his passport.