Judit Varga's Pardon Case: The Last Straw That Broke the Camel's Back
Judit Varga, with her roots in Miskolc, saw her career soar with unprecedented speed at one point.
Following a brief stint as a lawyer, she spent three years as a clerk at the Metropolitan and Central District Court of Pest, which was followed by a much longer phase as she served from 2009 to 2018 as an advisor to Fidesz's Brussels representatives. In 2018, upon the request of Gergely Gulyás, Minister in charge of the Prime Minister's Office, she became the State Secretary responsible for EU affairs. Her versatility is evident in her excellent violin skills, and she also proved herself as a certified footballer and basketball player.
Her appointment caused confusion among many, as several politicians with more experience than Varga Judit had been considered as potential successors to László Trócsányi, who was leaving for Brussels, including Tibor Navracsics, who had previously held the position.
MOTHER, FATHER, PEGASUS, AND THE RULE OF LAW
Her ministry began rather quietly, mostly "battling with Brussels" while becoming one of the most popular politicians on the right-wing. She found it unacceptable that the European Union tied the disbursement of support and resources to rule of law criteria. Even as a State Secretary, she argued that a show trial was being conducted against Hungary.
She is linked with the ninth amendment of the Fundamental Law, which enshrined in the constitution that a mother is a woman, a father is a man, and that public money is state revenue, expenditure, and claims. She personally submitted the bill that was adopted by the National Assembly.
In the summer of 2021, the quiet period of Brussels battles and family protection measures was interrupted by the Pegasus scandal.
The essence of the case was that an Israeli spy software was used to monitor and eavesdrop on government-critical journalists, lawyers, and entrepreneurs. The number of people intercepted could be around 300. With Judit Varga's permission, secret surveillance was conducted on average five times a day by the special services.
Initially, she dodged questions raised by the scandal by mentioning Soros organizations, and soon after, she made the following statement:
> Let's not be ridiculous, every country needs such tools! It's an illusion if anyone tries to make a case out of this.
The public has yet to receive an explanation as to why the surveillance of those involved was necessary for national security. Last February, a committee investigating the use of Pegasus and equivalent spy software wished to consult with Judit Varga in person, but the then-acting Minister of Justice declined the request. She explained her decision as follows:
> In accordance with Article 4(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, national security remains exclusively the competence of the Member States. However, the mandate of the PEGA Committee dangerously overreaches the EU and institutional competencies, a fact reinforced by the related statements of the European Commission.
Since the Hungarian government opposes such practices, in order to protect the rule of law, it does not contribute to the cooperation with the PEGA Committee, therefore she also did not meet with the delegation. "We do not wish to assist the performance supported by Soros dollars of the Hungarian and European left," she stated.
THE BIGGEST CORRUPTION SCANDAL
It is safe to say that the biggest corruption scandal of recent years was the Schadl–Völner case. The two main persons involved, György Schadl, the former President of the Hungarian Chamber of Judicial Officers, and Pál Völner, the former State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice deny their guilt, with trials still in progress.
According to the indictment, the first accused, György Schadl, previous President of the Hungarian Chamber of Judicial Officers, formed a corrupt relationship with the second accused, former State Secretary of Justice Pál Völner, before May 2018. Within this framework, Schadl regularly gave cash - between 2-5 million forints, totaling at least 83 million forints to the politician, who in return, exercised his influence stemming from his State Secretary and Deputy Minister position to benefit the person bribing him.
Schadl agreed with seven of his associates that they would be appointed as independent court executors in return for a share of their office's operations, for which he partially or completely reclaimed dividends. Schadl gained more than 924 million forints of illegal income. The Central Investigating Chief Prosecutor's Office proposed that
THE COURT SHOULD SENTENCE GYÖRGY SCHADL TO TEN YEARS AND PÁL VÖLNER TO EIGHT YEARS OF IMPRISONMENT, a fine of 200 and 25 million forints respectively,
and both should be banned from public affairs for ten years, banned permanently from holding a job requiring a legal university degree, and ordered confiscation of their assets to the extent of their illegal enrichment. The indictment also includes the other 22 accused's corrupt, economic, and property crimes.
It is perhaps unnecessary to elaborate on how the corruption scandal involving her direct deputy also cast a shadow over the Minister of Justice herself, with the opposition demanding her resignation and seeking to establish an investigative committee that would have dissected Judit Varga's involvement. It was shocking when Pál Völner's lawyer initiated that the former Minister of Justice be heard in the trial against his client.
EXILE
There is no doubt that the Schadl–Völner case was a significant burden and had an influence on her career. Her resignation took place in June 2023. She explained the decision by stating she would continue her career as the lead candidate of the Fidesz EP list, a task that requires full attention and total commitment.
This task, just like my duties as a minister, requires my full attention, so I have already informed the Prime Minister of my intention to resign effective July 31st. I think it is proper to hand over the leadership of the Ministry of Justice to someone who can focus on it 100 percent
she said, adding that the EP campaign requires much more preparation than before, as this year could witness a conservative turn in the European Union. Critical voices suggest that Judit Varga was exiled to Brussels by the Prime Minister due to the shadows of the Völner–Schadl case. However, the game plan was disrupted, and a redesign will be needed on the government side due to the erupted pardon case.
THE LAST STRAW AND TOTAL RETIREMENT
Clearly, the pardon case was the final blow to Judit Varga's political career. On February 2nd, the news outlet 444 published an article revealing that Katalin Novák granted a pardon in April 2023, citing the Papal visit, to Endre K., the former deputy director of the Bicske orphanage, who was sentenced to 3 years and 4 months of imprisonment. Since Endre K. also attempted to challenge his prison sentence at the third level of jurisdiction concurrently with his clemency plea, the September text of the third-level decision also included the April pardon decision, which was countersigned by Judit Varga as the Minister of Justice.
Endre K., a former employee of the institution, not only was aware that his boss, i.e., the director, was molesting children but also assisted in his actions. He pressured the children to withdraw their statements, to testify falsely, and wrote a false testimony on behalf of one of them which he later tried to have the concerned person sign which contained the following lines: "I made up that we together pulled out my genitalia, and that he has done this with other children. The truth is that he didn't pull down my trousers, didn't touch it, and didn't masturbate it."
Following the impact of the pardon case, Katalin Novák, the Head of State, resigned, followed by an announcement from Judit Varga withdrawing from public life. "Since the change of regime, the validation of the President's individual decision of a pardon required the countersignature of the Minister of Justice. I continued this practice, which has been in place for more than 25 years, where the Minister of Justice acknowledges the President's decision on a pardon. I take political responsibility for countering the President's decision. I am withdrawing from public life, giving up my parliamentary mandate and also the leadership of the EP list. I am gratefully thankful to everyone I have worked with as a team in the past years. Hungary can continue to count on me to protect our national interests and values," she wrote in her statement, which is likely Judit Varga's last public appearance.
Her appointment caused confusion among many, as several politicians with more experience than Varga Judit had been considered as potential successors to László Trócsányi, who was leaving for Brussels, including Tibor Navracsics, who had previously held the position.
MOTHER, FATHER, PEGASUS, AND THE RULE OF LAW
Her ministry began rather quietly, mostly "battling with Brussels" while becoming one of the most popular politicians on the right-wing. She found it unacceptable that the European Union tied the disbursement of support and resources to rule of law criteria. Even as a State Secretary, she argued that a show trial was being conducted against Hungary.
She is linked with the ninth amendment of the Fundamental Law, which enshrined in the constitution that a mother is a woman, a father is a man, and that public money is state revenue, expenditure, and claims. She personally submitted the bill that was adopted by the National Assembly.
In the summer of 2021, the quiet period of Brussels battles and family protection measures was interrupted by the Pegasus scandal.
The essence of the case was that an Israeli spy software was used to monitor and eavesdrop on government-critical journalists, lawyers, and entrepreneurs. The number of people intercepted could be around 300. With Judit Varga's permission, secret surveillance was conducted on average five times a day by the special services.
Initially, she dodged questions raised by the scandal by mentioning Soros organizations, and soon after, she made the following statement:
> Let's not be ridiculous, every country needs such tools! It's an illusion if anyone tries to make a case out of this.
The public has yet to receive an explanation as to why the surveillance of those involved was necessary for national security. Last February, a committee investigating the use of Pegasus and equivalent spy software wished to consult with Judit Varga in person, but the then-acting Minister of Justice declined the request. She explained her decision as follows:
> In accordance with Article 4(2) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, national security remains exclusively the competence of the Member States. However, the mandate of the PEGA Committee dangerously overreaches the EU and institutional competencies, a fact reinforced by the related statements of the European Commission.
Since the Hungarian government opposes such practices, in order to protect the rule of law, it does not contribute to the cooperation with the PEGA Committee, therefore she also did not meet with the delegation. "We do not wish to assist the performance supported by Soros dollars of the Hungarian and European left," she stated.
THE BIGGEST CORRUPTION SCANDAL
It is safe to say that the biggest corruption scandal of recent years was the Schadl–Völner case. The two main persons involved, György Schadl, the former President of the Hungarian Chamber of Judicial Officers, and Pál Völner, the former State Secretary of the Ministry of Justice deny their guilt, with trials still in progress.
According to the indictment, the first accused, György Schadl, previous President of the Hungarian Chamber of Judicial Officers, formed a corrupt relationship with the second accused, former State Secretary of Justice Pál Völner, before May 2018. Within this framework, Schadl regularly gave cash - between 2-5 million forints, totaling at least 83 million forints to the politician, who in return, exercised his influence stemming from his State Secretary and Deputy Minister position to benefit the person bribing him.
Schadl agreed with seven of his associates that they would be appointed as independent court executors in return for a share of their office's operations, for which he partially or completely reclaimed dividends. Schadl gained more than 924 million forints of illegal income. The Central Investigating Chief Prosecutor's Office proposed that
THE COURT SHOULD SENTENCE GYÖRGY SCHADL TO TEN YEARS AND PÁL VÖLNER TO EIGHT YEARS OF IMPRISONMENT, a fine of 200 and 25 million forints respectively,
and both should be banned from public affairs for ten years, banned permanently from holding a job requiring a legal university degree, and ordered confiscation of their assets to the extent of their illegal enrichment. The indictment also includes the other 22 accused's corrupt, economic, and property crimes.
It is perhaps unnecessary to elaborate on how the corruption scandal involving her direct deputy also cast a shadow over the Minister of Justice herself, with the opposition demanding her resignation and seeking to establish an investigative committee that would have dissected Judit Varga's involvement. It was shocking when Pál Völner's lawyer initiated that the former Minister of Justice be heard in the trial against his client.
EXILE
There is no doubt that the Schadl–Völner case was a significant burden and had an influence on her career. Her resignation took place in June 2023. She explained the decision by stating she would continue her career as the lead candidate of the Fidesz EP list, a task that requires full attention and total commitment.
This task, just like my duties as a minister, requires my full attention, so I have already informed the Prime Minister of my intention to resign effective July 31st. I think it is proper to hand over the leadership of the Ministry of Justice to someone who can focus on it 100 percent
she said, adding that the EP campaign requires much more preparation than before, as this year could witness a conservative turn in the European Union. Critical voices suggest that Judit Varga was exiled to Brussels by the Prime Minister due to the shadows of the Völner–Schadl case. However, the game plan was disrupted, and a redesign will be needed on the government side due to the erupted pardon case.
THE LAST STRAW AND TOTAL RETIREMENT
Clearly, the pardon case was the final blow to Judit Varga's political career. On February 2nd, the news outlet 444 published an article revealing that Katalin Novák granted a pardon in April 2023, citing the Papal visit, to Endre K., the former deputy director of the Bicske orphanage, who was sentenced to 3 years and 4 months of imprisonment. Since Endre K. also attempted to challenge his prison sentence at the third level of jurisdiction concurrently with his clemency plea, the September text of the third-level decision also included the April pardon decision, which was countersigned by Judit Varga as the Minister of Justice.
Endre K., a former employee of the institution, not only was aware that his boss, i.e., the director, was molesting children but also assisted in his actions. He pressured the children to withdraw their statements, to testify falsely, and wrote a false testimony on behalf of one of them which he later tried to have the concerned person sign which contained the following lines: "I made up that we together pulled out my genitalia, and that he has done this with other children. The truth is that he didn't pull down my trousers, didn't touch it, and didn't masturbate it."
Following the impact of the pardon case, Katalin Novák, the Head of State, resigned, followed by an announcement from Judit Varga withdrawing from public life. "Since the change of regime, the validation of the President's individual decision of a pardon required the countersignature of the Minister of Justice. I continued this practice, which has been in place for more than 25 years, where the Minister of Justice acknowledges the President's decision on a pardon. I take political responsibility for countering the President's decision. I am withdrawing from public life, giving up my parliamentary mandate and also the leadership of the EP list. I am gratefully thankful to everyone I have worked with as a team in the past years. Hungary can continue to count on me to protect our national interests and values," she wrote in her statement, which is likely Judit Varga's last public appearance.
