The Ombudsman on the Way the Police Handled Student Demonstrations

The Ombudsman on the Way the Police Handled Student Demonstrations

The Commissioner for Fundamental Rights deems exemplary the way the police handled the sometimes hardly followable student demonstrations, helping the students to exercise their right of peaceful assembly. The Ombudsman's co-workers, present at the venues, did not experience any irregularities in police actions, the police followed and secured the demonstrations in a proportionate way, being observant of the right of assembly.

According to Ombudsman Máté Szabó, the police gave all possible assistance at their disposal to those exercising one of the most fundamental human rights while handling Monday's and Wednesday's student demonstrations, the marches through the capital's major thoroughfares. The Commissioner cited the Constitutional Court's statements according to which events held in the spirit of the right of assembly are linked to the values of democratic publicity, enabling citizens to criticize political processes and influence them through their protest.

The police proceeded in the spirit of the aforementioned statements of the Constitutional Court when they did not take action against the participants of the unannounced but peaceful demonstrations, just followed their movement, securing unrestricted traffic. The Ombudsman stressed that the police's practice concerning the right of assembly had significantly evolved in recent years. Compared to the indifference of earlier years, this time the police exerted themselves – within and, sometimes, pointing beyond the legal boundaries – to help the young organizers of the events to proceed with the demonstrations. According to the Commissioner, one cannot emphasize enough the importance of information and communication in the consensual settlement of disputes and conflicts.

In his earlier reports, the Ombudsman used to criticize police actions for not having properly utilized the institution of the delegated police representative. The positive experience of the demonstrations of December 10 and 12 is that the cooperation of the delegated police representative in attendance and the communication with the – occasionally difficult to find – organizers played a major role in succeeding to maintain all along the peaceful character of the events.

As on-the-spot experience shows, more and more minors and young adults participate in events falling under the Act on Freedom of Assembly; protecting their rights and security was a primary consideration. That is the reason why the Ombudsman deems important cooperation, promoting communication and, on the police's part, rendering continuous assistance and observing the proportionality of police actions.