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In the late 1970s, at an international sporting competition in Pécs, Rudolf Szántó, a Yugoslav “athlete”, approached the Honorary Ensign saying that he would not be ungrateful if he was willing to provide him with information about the Soviet troops in Hungary. The ensign immediately reported the request to his superiors. As nothing had happened for months, and in the meantime Szántó had requested and received permission to travel to Yugoslavia, and from a place not specifically named, the ensign had been commissioned to find the “athlete” who tried to recruit him in Pécs and offer his services. . When he returned home, Szántó said that he had tried to contact him, but was unsuccessful. Arable later admitted that he actually agreed with Yugoslav intelligence on his first trip.
They were mainly asked for information on Soviet military units, but were also asked to provide information on defense-relevant national aircraft.
Hundred Mark Thirty Two Dollars
Rudolf Szántó graduated from the flight officers school, first as a civil servant and then as a professional officer in Pécs. He later served in the Börgönd helicopter unit, then the Tazár 101 aerial reconnaissance aircraft, and as an aerial photo evaluator, he was in possession of several state secrets.
At first, the Yugoslavs were unhappy with how Szántó worked, as he cut “secrets” from the newspapers many times.
Although the ensign could hardly be blamed for his professionalism, he was still able to operate undisturbed for twelve years. Even after the regime change, he did not stop spying, and even recruited Lieutenant General FI for the job.
And Arable became lost! FI apparently only engaged in espionage, because before that he talked about military deterrence. From then on, the lieutenant worked in a “showcase”: tape and video recordings of its operation were also made.
Rudolf Szántó was arrested on January 25, 1991 in Kaposvár. According to the indictment, since 1979 he has provided information to Yugoslav intelligence on the Soviet troops stationed in Hungary at the time, as well as on the Hungarian People’s Army and the Hungarian Armed Forces. In exchange for the secrets, sometimes your family could spend a week or two on the Adriatic coast. Arable also occasionally received some pocket money from his directors. How much? When he was arrested, a search of the house found him one hundred marks and thirty-two dollars. Authorities also seized hundreds of Australian dollars, but their origin could not be clearly proven as the ensign’s father lived in Australia.
I have nothing, at most, a transfer deposit account with OTP. And a lot of loan repayments, because what is in the apartment, we take almost everything from a loan. It was not possible to have fun with three children, and now the family is on the floor
Szántó declared himself to the Reform in June 1992.
Circulation of files
The case files visited an unprecedented Calvary! The story began with the fact that on January 16, 1991 the Military Prosecutor’s Office ordered an investigation against Army Lieutenant Rudolf Szántó for the crime of espionage, which was entrusted to the Investigations Department of the National Police Headquarters. Shortly after the investigation began, on January 25, the military prosecutor filed a preliminary arrest of the suspect, which was ordered by the competent court.
On March 26, the Military Prosecutor’s Office sent the documents to the Metropolitan Prosecutor’s Office with a motion for indictment. Why go there when a soldier was the suspect? Because since March 1, 1990, the regulation has changed. Yes, but the Attorney General of the Metropolitan Prosecutor’s Office considered that the act was not espionage, but a crime of revealing state and official secrets, and they did not have exclusive jurisdiction over such cases. Therefore, the documents were sent to the Somogy County Attorney General’s Office, which also filed the indictment in Somogy County Court on August 16, 1991. But the county court ruled that classifying the act was not a revelation of state and official secrets, but espionage … And after the Metropolitan Court had exclusive jurisdiction over espionage matters, it ruled in a ruling that it had no jurisdiction of its own. So the files returned to Calle Markó on October 15. The Metropolitan Court also ruled in a beautiful order that it had no jurisdiction over the case, because the valid charge is on the crime of disclosing service and state secrets.
Satisfied with the file, on December 13, 1991, the Supreme Court appointed the Metropolitan Court to carry out the process for reasons of speed.
So, of course, the Arable Dossier did not get there, because the regulation changed again as of January 1, 1992, and therefore the case was referred to the Military Council of the Metropolitan Court on January 20. But the people of the capital returned the files to Kaposvár, saying that the disclosure of state and service secrets is not an “exclusive” crime. The Somogy County Court Military Council issued a more recent order on February 14, 1992, again stating that it was a case of espionage.
After that, it is a complete miracle that the case went to trial!
He confessed and then denied his guilt
On April 6, 1992, the Budapest Military Prosecutor’s Office filed an accusation against the Hungarian Second Lieutenant Rudolf Szántó before the Military Council of the Metropolitan Tribunal for espionage of the Yugoslav military intelligence. Colonel György Székely, head of the prosecutor’s office, said that according to the investigation, Rudolf Szántó, on behalf of Yugoslav military intelligence, has regularly provided data on ex-Soviet and Hungarian military formations for financial and other considerations since 1979. until January 25, 1991.. The intelligence activities of the accused in connection with the Soviet military units stationed in Hungary are covered by the Penal Code. He is not prosecuted under his disposition because previous Allied military ties were severed along with the Warsaw Pact.
Arable During the investigation period, he pleaded guilty, which he later withdrew in court and denied his guilt. He carried out espionage only to inform his clients about the activities of Soviet troops in Hungary. On the contrary, he also provided information about his own training.
The trial of first instance for espionage began on May 5, 1992 before the Military Council of the Metropolitan Court, chaired by Colonel General Róbert Hildenbrand. Lajos Miklós was protected by a seconded defender. Major Imre Keresztes, a military prosecutor representing the prosecution, proposed that the public be excluded from the entire trial to preserve state and service secrets.
The military council delivered its verdict on May 13, 1992. Rudolf Szántó was sentenced to 12 years in prison for the crime of espionage, and as a collateral sentence, he was banned from public affairs for ten years. The court assessed as aggravating that Szántó provided data to the foreign espionage organization for a long time, on a regular basis, in exchange for financial compensation, without selection.
It is true that the Soviet troops left the territory of the country, and the concept of defense of the Hungarian Armed Forces also changed, but some of the information did not lose its relevance. On the one hand, Hungary is bound by the international treaties in force and, on the other, an important part of the data on the Hungarian Armed Forces remains a military or state secret.
During the reasoning of the verdict, it was stated that the ensign continued with his act even after the proclamation of the republic, and even recruited Lieutenant General FI for this purpose. The court drew up a partial confession in favor of Szántó, his marital status and the international situation that had changed significantly in the meantime.
But the crime is not considered committed
– said the president of the military council, according to which the accused seriously violated the interests of the Hungarian nation. The verdict was taken by the military prosecutor, while Arable and his lawyer filed an appeal for unfoundedness. The military council ordered the maintenance of the preventive prison pending a decision on the merits of the Supreme Court. At 5:30 p.m. on May 13, the 45-year-old defendant clicked on the handcuffs.
Nothing was accepted from our defense
Szántó turned to his lawyer, his face pale. Lajos Miklós smoked one of his cigarettes anxiously, then touched:
Nothing.
A 10-year prison or not?
According to the defendant’s defense attorney, the verdict was unfounded and its factual and legal conclusion was incorrect. Lajos Miklós alleged that the defendants’ conduct could be classified as a crime, or at most an offer of espionage, revelation of state secrets or military service secrets.
The espionage was resumed in the Supreme Court before the advice of Ede Rabóczki on July 20, 1992. During the lull in the closed-door trial, Lajos Miklós told reporters that he had intended to hear the former commander of Taszár airport as a witness and ask again the opinion of the secret experts. With all this, he wanted to show that the defendant could not obtain information on the combat readiness of the air regiment, and that the data on the Tassari airport and the Second Corps no longer constituted a state or service secret at the time of the judgment. However, the court rejected the lawyer’s initiative.
Lieutenant Colonel Lajos Koncz, representative of the Military Prosecutor’s Office, said in his speech that he proposed to uphold the judgment of the Court of First Instance in favor of dismissing the appeals announced by the accused and the defense, as there was no unfounded basis and the appeal was invalid of defense.
Although the lieutenant colonel acknowledged that there had been a relative violation, since the defendant could not have had knowledge of the top secret written sentence before the second instance process, this was not grounds for annulment.
The Supreme Court upheld the defendant’s appeal and ordered a new trial because the indictment, and thus the evidence, contained several inconsistencies. However, at the end of the new trial, on November 6, 1992, the Metropolitan Court again found Szántó guilty and sentenced him to ten years in prison. On February 16, 1993, the Supreme Court confirmed the sentence.
Epilogue
Rudolf Szántó finally deducted four years from the sentence – along with the time of preventive detention – because, at the proposal of the Minister of Justice Pál Vastagh, President Árpád Göncz granted him an individual pardon on February 23, 1995.
(Cover image: Rudolf Szántó. Photo: Reforma, May-August 1992 / István Móricz / Arcanum)
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