[ad_1]
The espionage of Béla Kovács broke out in the spring of 2014, at the campaign ends of the parliamentary elections, when the Hungarian Nation, which at that time was considered a government party, wrote that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution had presented a complaint against a Jobbik politician for espionage. The mere fact that AH made a report and everything was leaked to the press did not seem normal. Spies are often caught in action, but Kovács may have learned from the press that anti-espionage had “worked” on him. Nor was he arrested.
The process against him progressed quite stagnant, which in practice meant that even in the 2018 parliamentary election campaign it did not come to an end, so that Fidesz could catch the Kovács spy scandal at any time if it wanted to betray Jobbik . Finally, in the summer of 2018, the first trial was held, in which Kovács expressed his innocence.
In May 2014, the Attorney General proposed that the European Parliament waive Béla Kovács’s immunity, which took place in October 2015. The Central Prosecutor’s Office brought charges against him in December 2017, when Béla Kovács announced that he was leaving Jobbik. The gist of the indictment was that between 2012 and 2014, Kovács provided Russian intelligence with information on, among other things, energy issues, the European Parliament elections, the internal political situation in Hungary, and the expansion of the Paks nuclear power plant.
According to all these accusations, Kovács’s aim was to create an openly anti-EU camp with a solid background base within the EP, to disintegrate the institutions of the European Communities from within, and to put Russian interests first.
Exactly what evidence was against is unknown, as the trial was sometimes held behind closed doors, given the information generated during the process, including classified information, state secrets. However, from similar cases it can be concluded that AH was able to obtain information on Kovács operationally, that is, through observations and interceptions, which were thought to be evidence.
The fact that the Russian secret service played a role in the lives of Kovacs and his Russian wife was revealed in detail in an article published in the index in the fall of 2015. Kovács denied the entire time that he had been spying, as well as that had something to do with some secret service. Kovács’s father could no longer experience the beginning of the criminal lawsuit for espionage and budget fraud, but during the process his testimony was read during the investigation, in which he practically confirmed the allegations of the prosecution. He also spoke, for example, that Kovach’s wife worked for the Russian secret service and had a working relationship with Vladimir Putin, who was once also an intelligence officer.
At the beginning of the trial, Kovacs told reporters that, although he had met with Russian diplomats, he did not know they were from intelligence, “because it is not written on their foreheads.”
Kovács was charged not only with espionage but also with budget fraud, and the two cases were joined. According to the budget fraud complaint, the MP and its three associates caused a total economic loss of more than 21 thousand euros (more than six million florins) to the EP in 2012-2013 with fictitious internships.
The judge said in the basis of the verdict that Béla Kovács had been organized by the Russian external intelligence service, the SZRV. Kovács had a working relationship with a Russian intelligence officer in Budapest who worked under diplomatic cover.
They met conspiratorially, they communicated in floral language, they didn’t use the phone.
Kovács was also trained in so-called self-monitoring, which is used to monitor whether anti-espionage personnel are following him.
According to the judge, the Russians asked Kovács to share his experience and opinion in the EU. All of this went smoothly until November 2013, when the Russian detention officer left Hungary and handed Kovács over to his successor. Later, Kovács met with the new liaison officer in December 2013, and then, in February 2014, they had their last meeting in Szentendre. The judge’s reasoning revealed that Kovács had only shared with the Russians information that was available to everyone. But the Russians didn’t even ask him to get secrets from them.
By expressing his opinion, he helped the interests of Russia, the judge said, adding that he did not harm the interests of the EU or Hungary.
There was also defense and dialogue in the long trial. According to his own confession, the unemployed Béla Kovács said in the last word on the espionage charge that he did not consider himself a criminal and declared his innocence.
“I did my job as a member of the European Parliament between 2010 and 2019 in the interest of the Hungarian people, Hungary, I did not help the activities of any foreign service,” he said. According to him, this matter has political, politically motivated implications. “These attacks were targeted. In 2014, just before the European Parliament elections, a spy scandal broke out,” Kovács explained.
According to him, the political motivation was also proven by the fact that when the waiver of Kovács’ immunity was discussed in Brussels, Attorney General Péter Polt also left, but in vain asked not to specify anything, citing the secrecy of the case. . At the end of his statement, he also spoke that those who did this to him (and here he also named the secret services) will be responsible for this, if not in a court case, but abroad. (It is unclear what the defendant was referring to, but he may take his case to an international legal forum.)
In the end, he was convicted only of budget fraud, because according to the prosecution, Béla Kovács entered into an internship contract with four people in 2012-2013, according to which these people completed four and six months of internships in Brussels in addition to the representative. According to the accusation, however, they did not even go to Brussels and did not do any work, but instead took the money, and with it the MP and his three colleagues caused a total economic loss of more than 21 thousand euros (more than six million florins) to PE. By the way, these accusations were denied by Béla Kovács at all times, but the judge considered them proven. Finally, the light sentence was justified by the criminal record of the accused.
Learned from the press
The espionage of Béla Kovács broke out in the spring of 2014, at the campaign ends of the parliamentary elections, when the Hungarian Nation, which at that time was considered a government party, wrote that the Office for the Protection of the Constitution had presented a complaint against a Jobbik politician for espionage. The mere fact that AH made a report and everything was leaked to the press did not seem normal. Spies are often caught in action, but Kovács may have learned from the press that the antispionage had “worked” on him. Nor was he arrested.
The process against him proceeded in a rather stagnant manner, which in practice meant that even in the 2018 parliamentary election campaign it did not come to an end, so that Fidesz could pick up on the Kovács spy scandal at any time if it wanted to betray to Jobbik. Finally, in the summer of 2018, the first trial was held, in which Kovács expressed his innocence.
In May 2014, the Attorney General proposed that the European Parliament waive Béla Kovács’s immunity, which took place in October 2015. The Central Prosecutor’s Office brought charges against him in December 2017, when Béla Kovács announced that he was leaving Jobbik. The gist of the indictment was that between 2012 and 2014, Kovács provided Russian intelligence with information on, among others, energy issues, the European Parliament elections, the internal political situation in Hungary and the expansion of the Paks nuclear power plant.
According to all these accusations, Kovács’s aim was to create an openly anti-EU camp with a solid background base within the EP, to disintegrate the institutions of the European Communities from within, and to put Russian interests first.
Exactly what evidence was against is unknown, as the trial was sometimes held behind closed doors, given the information generated during the process, including classified information, state secrets. However, from similar cases it can be concluded that AH was able to obtain information on Kovács operationally, that is, through observations and interceptions, which were thought to be evidence.
The fact that the Russian secret service played a role in the lives of Kovacs and his Russian wife was revealed in detail in an article published in the index in the fall of 2015. Kovács denied the entire time that he had been spying, as well as that had something to do with some secret service. Kovács’s father could no longer experience the beginning of the criminal lawsuit for espionage and budget fraud, but during the process his testimony was read during the investigation, in which he practically confirmed the allegations of the prosecution. He also spoke, for example, that Kovach’s wife worked for the Russian secret service and had a working relationship with Vladimir Putin, who was once also an intelligence officer.
At the beginning of the trial, Kovacs told reporters that, although he had met with Russian diplomats, he did not know that they were from intelligence, “because it is not written on their foreheads.”
[ad_2]
