Imre Nagy trial

From the Hungarian Wikipedia page [1]

Imre Nagy and his associates were tried in a secret trial following the Hungarian Revolution of 1956 between 28 January and 15 June 1958 against the Imre Nagy Government and the 'Imre Nagy Group'. The defendants were Imre Nagy, Géza Losonczy, Miklós Gimes, Pál Maléter, József Szilágyi, Sándor Kopácsi, Ferenc Donáth, Ferenc Jánosi, Zoltán Tildy and Miklós Vásárhelyi. The lawsuit was settled in consultation with the puppet government led by Kadar and the Soviet leadership.

The secret negotiation was adjourned after a day with a reference to the heart attack of Zoltán Radó, a judge of the Judiciary, who was replaced by Vida Ferenc, who was sentenced to death in the guilty plea of ​​the defendants by four months later. The lawsuit was committed during the trial, the defenders were intimidated, the defense witness could not be brought, the defendants were constantly dropping the word, not giving their evidence, and ultimately delivering judgments in accordance with the political goal.

The judgment was pronounced on June 15, 1958. Imre Nagy was sentenced to 12 years in prison, Miklós Gimes was killed, Zoltan Tildy was sentenced to 6 years in prison, Maléter Pál died, Sándor Kopácsi was sentenced to life imprisonment, Ferenc Jánosi was sentenced to eight years in prison and Miklós Vásárhelyi was sentenced to 5 years in prison.

The deaths were hanged the next day at dawn. The execution was only made public the following day. Géza Losonczy died in the investigative detention before the trial began for violent artificial feeding due to her hunger strike. The 9th defendant József Szilágyi's case - having refused to answer the questions of the confessors - was isolated and was suspended on April 24, 1958. Their corpses were buried in the courtyard of the prison, roped in tarpaulin paper. In 1961, he was exterminated, and the collapsed corpses were emaciated down the face of the New Quarter 301 parcel in an unmarked grave. During the change of the regime, their rehabilitation and solemn revival took place in 1989.

Political leadership has filed a film for later propaganda use, but the recordings were not suitable for revolt against the Revolution, so it was encrypted and it was only lifted in 2008.

## The origins

During the Revolution, the news of the 2nd Soviet intervention Nagy Imre and his colleagues fled to the Yugoslav Embassy, ​​and on 22 November, trusting in the promise made by the Hungarian government to plummet, they left the building of the Yugoslav Embassy. The Soviets, in violation of the agreement with the Yugoslavs, were immediately detained and then placed with their family on the banks of Lake Snagov, Romania, under house arrest. Kádár and the Soviet leadership tried to force Imre Nagy to recognize the government of János Kádár with strong political pressure and personal delegates to legitimize the new power. After Imre Nagy was not inclined to do so, on March 27-29, 1957, in Moscow, János Kádár agreed with the leaders of the Soviet Party to bring Imre Nagy to court. The execution of the operation was continuously coordinated with the Soviet leadership. Certain sources, however, suggest that Soviet leadership did not impose on Kádár the death sentence of Imre Nagy, the need for the most severe punishment was suggested by the Hungarian leadership. According to KGB leader Ivan Szerov's diary, "Imre Nagy's next destiny was decided by the new Hungarian leadership. Though they had been discussing with Moscow this time. The execution of Imre Nagy is full of the conscience of the new Hungarian leadership. I think Kádár was trying to erase the traces of his co-operation with Imre Nagy. They wanted to decide the power of Gero, who was a Rakosi's man. "[1] On April 9, according to Kádár's proposal, the MSZMP IIB adopted a decision on the arrest of Imre Nagy and his associates and the initiation of criminal proceedings. On 14 April, Nagy was arrested and taken to Budapest with his associates. During the interrogation of April 16, 1957, Imre Nagy refused to answer, and never signed the minutes. Imre Nagy on June 14th interviewed himself: "I feel I'm not guilty of anything, I want to tell my activity." He still refused to evaluate events politically and criminally. On August 10, 1957, the Ministry of the Interior prepared an indictment for Imre Nagy, in Moscow on August 26, Béla Biszku, interior minister, negotiated the charges and sentences with Andropov, the Head of Unit of the Soviet Union and other Soviet leaders. Officially on December 21, 1957, the MSZMP KB closed a secret decision on the trial, according to which Imre Nagy "should be allowed to go free of lawsuit against a special, counter-revolutionary group guilty of overthrowing the legitimate order of the People's Republic."

## The trial

On February 5, 1958, the secret, closed trial series began in the main street courtroom of the military court, the Supreme Court's dr. With the assistance of the Hungarian People's Court Council led by Zoltan Radó. The prosecution was first deputy to the General Prosecutor, dr. Represented by József Szalai. Rado's conduct in the light of known political circumstances was relatively fair. It was immediately apparent to the political leadership that Zoltán Radó could not lead the negotiation with the expected rigor: he left everyone to talk, he was unable to prevent the accused from presenting their own arguments and evidence, unable to discuss the matter with the defendants and to take the desired direction the course of proofs. So they adjourned the trial the next day, referring to Rado's illness. Four months later, they only continued, and the then president of the council was named Ferenc Vida, who had been convicted in the guilty guilty of the accused, who had been convicted in retaliation for many death sentences.

## The defendants

1st order Nagy Imre, 2nd order Ferenc Donáth, 3rd Miklós Gimes, 4th order Zoltán Tildy, 5th order Pál Maléter, 6th order Sándor Kopácsi, 7th order Ferenc Jánosi, 8th order Miklós Vásárhelyi, 9th. is József Szilágyi.

The Judge Ferenc Vida, Judge
Judge Ferenc Vida, who was appointed as leader of the trial, was convinced, as a communist, to believe in the "counter-revolutionary" guilt of Imre Nagy and the necessity of the most serious judgment. After retribution following 1956, Vida was known for his hard-to-contradictory hardship and a large number of death sentences before political leadership. Vida declined in his declarations of order that the leaders of the MSZMP and János Kádár himself should have instructed the death sentences, which is not unreasonable. In practice, the Hungarian political leadership - according to Szerov himself - decided that Kadar-Vida personally decided to appoint Vida's person by virtue of the appointment of the per-leader to condemn the death of Imre Nagy.

In 1989, Vida considered Zoltán Radó, the leader of the hearing, that "Zoltán Radó was unable to lead the trial. During Radó's trial, there was more than questioning the defendants. The defendants were conducting the trial, and Rado ran after them, unable to unite the case. "

Against him, Vida behaved in the style of the classical Stalinist political litigation, ignoring the impartiality of the judiciary, in addition to the prosecutor, was fully responsible for the accuser himself, had a ready concept of the guilty of the defendants and what judgment he had to make.

Between June 9 and June 15, 1958, closed negotiations took place. His defender, the 74-year-old Imre Bárd, who was already seriously ill, did not say that he did not want to overthrow the socialist system, but instead he saved what was salvable, and all that change was done with the knowledge and consent of the party leadership at that time. Ferenc Vida then said, "I warn the defender that if he does not stop defaming the leaders of our party and government, he finds himself on the bench of the defendants."

Ferenc Vida, during the negotiations, often with uncontrollable anger and fury with the accused. Interrupted, he did not give the opportunity to express their position, he choked the accused in a chilling style if they wanted to disclose information contradictory to the point of view of the political concept of the case, leaving no room for any stance to be made more explicit. Vida felt emotionally deeply identified with the accusations, his voice "honest and deep indignation and even hatred radiated."

"(Shouting) I apologize! Listen to me when I talk! What title does you have for the detective's diminished education ... to refer to his diminished intelligence? Here you are the accused, understand this! And here you can not talk in this voice! Let's talk in a fair tone, because the court can use serious, harder tools!
[...]

Here is what the fair tone is and what is the right ..., disrespectful voice, I will decide it! (beat the table steadily) And if you can not behave properly, do it fairly, I'll teach you. Understand it finally!

"
- Ferenc Vida at the trial of József Szilágyi, 1958
During the trial, Imre Nagy complained that he had not been indicted during the investigation, but was asked to tell what sins he had committed. He also complained that, although the sentences actually mentioned in the recorded confession were included but left out long sections which he considered to be important for the proof.

The hurry-over trial series ended in just a week.

On June 15, Imre Nagy was sentenced to death and total confiscation, Ferenc Donáth for 12 years imprisonment, Miklós Gimes to death, Zoltan Tildy 6 years imprisonment, Maléter Pál to death, Sándor Kopácsi to life imprisonment, Ferenc Jánosi 8 years, Miklós Vásárhelyi 5 year prison sentence. The judgment was issued with the prior approval of the MSZMP PB. The defendants were all guilty of, except for the prime minister. Imre Nagy said in the last word: "Honorable people's court! Yes, Mr President! In the prosecution's attorney's office, he was the most serious in his accusation, so he proposed a death penalty. Among other reasons, he argued that the nation could not accept a judgment that would be compassionate. I put my destiny in the hands of the nation. I do not wish to raise anything against my defense, I do not ask for mercy. "His defender ex officio had a plea of ​​mercy, so according to the form the congregation met the same day and gave judgment and acted as a council of grace. His chairman, Ferenc Vida, rejected the requests for grace without reason, and thus the judgment immediately came to an end at the time of the promulgation.

This plea also fell victim to József Szilágyi (1917-58) and Géza Losonczy (1917-57). The latter has died before the negotiations began.

## The aftermath, the rehabilitation of the convicts

### In the Kádár system

Death sentences and their execution were only made public the following day. From the negotiations they filmed for later propaganda films. The filmmakers felt that they were not even edited to revolt against the revolution, so under the Kádár system they made only a brief report, cut off a sentence from the defendants, manipulated propaganda narration, and in case of Imre Nagy some sentences were forged. The film was encrypted and only released in 2008.

### After the regime change

The rehabilitation of the perpetrators during the regime change took place in 1989, together with their solemn resurrection. The leader of the lawsuit, Ferenc Vida, lived the change of regime and the resurrection, and in his interviews he did not regret, until he died of his lawlessness. Prosecutor József Szalai, a prosecutor, became a religious fanatic during the regime change and apologized to Sándor Kopácsi.