Hungarian government threatens to lift license of independent radio station

Klubrádíó's office in Budapest is small, but its current role in the political turmoil in Hungary is huge.

The Hungarian private radio broadcaster has became the symbol of struggles over the new media law approved by the government of PM Viktor Orbán.

The radio, well-known for its critical stance to the government, is threatened with having its license taken away, which would mean nothing less than the broadcaster's end.

Viktor Orbán's approach to Hungarian media has already been criticized by the EU.

Klubrádíó's editor-in-chief Ferenc Vicsek says he cannot believe that the freedom of speech in Hungary is under threat so many years after the fall of Communism.

Vicsek said that Fidesz, the governing party, has created a media council controlled exclusively by its members, and they have decided to destroy the broadcaster. Its conflict with the government has made the radio station very popular in Hungary, but this alone cannot save it.

 Fidesz won 52 percent of votes in the 2010 election, which brought him 68 percent of the seats in the Hungarian parliament - a 2/3 constitutional majority.

The European Union has criticized the government's moves to throttle media but so far this has had little effect.

Prosecutor slams Canada's refugee system

The public needs to be aware of flaws in Canada’s refugee and welfare systems that allowed a group of Hungarian Roma criminals to live in Hamilton and get paid for it, says the lead prosecutor of an ongoing human trafficking case.

“Disgusting, stunning, shocking, I just don’t have the words to describe,” assistant Crown attorney Toni Skarica said in court. He made the statement during a court appearance for Viktoria Nemes, the 45-year-old wife and mother of accused human traffickers.

She pleaded guilty Friday to welfare fraud and will be deported this month. Nemes came to Hamilton, from Hungary, in December 2008 and soon after misled authorities into believing she and her husband had separated and that she was a single mom, court heard.

In total, she and her husband are believed to have defrauded the City of Hamilton out of nearly $50,000.

When she arrived in Canada and claimed refugee status because she is a Roma, no warrant appeared when the Canada Border Services Agency searched her name. Documents presented in court proved she also told authorities she didn’t have a criminal record. In fact, she is wanted in Hungary for five felony related offences. She had been convicted to serve two years and six months in jail, Skarica said.

Ukrainian opposition sets up exile base in Prague

Prague is quietly becoming the base for the European campaign to release former Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Tymoshenko,(pictured) who is serving a seven-year sentence on corruption charges.
Yulia Tymoshenko was imprisoned after her political rival Viktor Yanukovich became the president of Ukraine. The trial was criticized by foreign politicians and international organizations as politically motivated.
Her husband Oleksandr Tymoshenko, an influential Ukrainian businessman, has been granted asylum in the Czech Republic. The move appears to be  the first part of a long-term plan of the Ukrainian opposition to free the former prime minister.
Oleksandr Tymoshenko plans to found an organization in Prague to support activities aiming at releasing his wife from prison.