WALL STREET JOURNAL: Hungary’s parliament moved to increase surveillance of high-level public officials, sparking comments that its reach into the people’s private lives would now be “total.”
The bill adopted late Tuesday, which is subject to approval from the country’s president, has raised concerns by the ombudsman and civil rights groups. It was designed to allow the state to identify any risks that could lead to the influencing or blackmailing a person under surveillance, which would in turn cause state security issues, the bill says.
The range of positions in the secret service’s focus is now also detailed: the people subject to such surveillance are ambassadors, state secretaries, heads of administrative bodies and councils, the management of parliament, the head of the military forces and army generals, police commanders and superintendents, and heads and board members of state-owned companies. The person in question needs to sign an approval for the surveillance to be allowed. Refusal to sign means they lose their jobs.. (more)
EDITOR: Hungary’s parliament is totally dominated by conservatives from the right and neo-Fascists to the lunatic right. As a result, in addition to a being a keptocracy, Hungary is becoming a police state.
