Amsterdam mayor won't be prosecuted for participating in Budapest Pride

Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema will not be prosecuted for participating in the Pride event in Budapest. The Budapest police will not charge any participants in the event banned by the Hungarian government, including other Dutch politicians.

According to the police, the participants could not have known that the Budapest Pride was illegal because the opposition and the municipality suggested in their communications that the banned demonstration could continue as a municipal event.

The local Bar Association had expressed doubts about the options for prosecuting people. Participants who were tracked by means of facial recognition, among other methods, could have received fines of over 500 euros.

Halsema confirmed to ANP that she could be prosecuted because she did not have a diplomatic passport when she attended Pride Budapest at the Budapest mayor’s invitation. It is unclear whether the organizers will be charged. Under new Hungarian legislation, they could be sentenced to up to a year in prison.