Activist questioned by Hungarian police after banned Pride parade. The organizers had declared another purpose for the demonstration
Pecs Pride, October 4, 2025. Credit: Attila KISBENEDEK / AFP / Profimedia
Hungarian police questioned a human rights activist on Tuesday for organizing a Pride parade in the university town of Pecs in October, which was attended by thousands of people, even though the demonstration had been banned, reports AFP.
Prime Minister Viktor Orban has curtailed the rights of the LGBTQ community, citing “child protection,” and this year the ruling coalition in Budapest passed legislative changes aimed at banning Pride marches.
Even so, in June, more than 200,000 people defied the authorities' ban and participated in the annual Budapest Pride parade.
Thousands of people followed suit and participated in the parade held in Pecs on October 4.
The organizers had tried to circumvent the ban
Organizers of the Pecs demonstration tried to circumvent the ban, saying the purpose of the protest was to draw attention to “overpopulation of wild animals” and the accidents they cause, Peter Heindl, a lawyer and human rights activist, told AFP.
Even so, the main organizer of the Pecs Pride parade, activist Geza Buzas-Habel, was called to the police on Tuesday.
“Of course, I gave a statement admitting that, yes, I did organize the Pride march and I did make calls (to participate),” he said, in a video published by local news site Szabad Pecs.
“I said that I don't feel guilty. I exercised my fundamental right, which is enshrined in various international and European conventions on human rights. That's all,” the activist said in front of dozens of protesters who came to support him.
If indicted and convicted, Geza Buzas-Habel faces up to a year in prison for organizing and encouraging participation in a prohibited rally.
The government has questioned whether Pecs Pride even took place, arguing that the participants – who chanted LGBT rights slogans and waved rainbow flags – were actually there to protest against wildlife.
“I think those who marched did at the second (event),” Orban's chief of staff, Gergely Gulyas, told a government news conference this month.
In August, the mayor of Budapest, Gergely Karacsony, was also questioned about the 30th edition of the “Pride” parade in the Hungarian capital.
