Pressure mounts on Hungary’s president to resign over pardon in child sexual abuse case

By JUSTIN SPIKE
Associated Press

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Pressure is mounting on Hungary’s head of state to resign after it was revealed she issued a presidential pardon to a man convicted as an accomplice in a child sexual abuse case. Hungary’s opposition parties say President Katalin Novák is no longer fit to hold office after pardoning the former deputy director of a state-run children’s home last year. The man was sentenced to more than three years in prison in 2018 for helping to cover up sexual abuse by the institution’s director. Novák is a former minister for families and a close ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. She denies she acted improperly and has rejected calls for a formal explanation of her decision.