Ferenc Vida

From the Hungarian Wikipedia page [1]

Ferenc Vida (Csongrad, May 4, 1911- Budapest November 7, 1990) communist lawyer and judge. The retaliation following the 1956 revolution is one of the most notorious, most deadly judges. He became the most well-known judge of the Imre Nagy trial.

His father was a wealthy lawyer. In 1932-33 he participated in the Zionist movement, graduated from the Academy of Law in Szeged in 1934, then in 1934 he participated in the establishment of the local Palestinian Communist Party in Tel Aviv. From 1935 he returned to Hungary and worked as a lawyer. Meanwhile, he also participated in the illegal communist movement. He became known under the name "Tunis" since he had a typical Arabic appearance. In 1942 he was called In Schönherz, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for illegal communist organization and the Movement for Independence.

After the German occupation of Hungary he was taken to Germany. After World War II he returned to Hungary and started working as a lawyer. In July 1945, he was Secretary of the Hungarian Party of Workers' Party (MDP) Budapest District District Party Committee, from February 1946 to February 1949, became the Adviser to the Ministry of the Interior and then Head of the Central Audit Committee of the MDP. From June 1949 he was Head of Department at the State Audit Office. From December 1951, he worked for the Ministry of Justice 8 November 1953 . until October 31 1972 in the Supreme Court . His highest position was his deputy head of college. He retired from here.

During the retaliation, Ferenc Vida, as one of the most notorious judges, brought death sentences against a total of 20 people at first or second in 1956 for their activities .

The most famous group was the Imre Nagy trial. His name is still among others Tibor Dery et al, Péter Erdős, Sándor Haraszti et al, László Kardos and others, Pavol, Ferenc Merei and others, Zoltan Zsámboki and Others, Corvin rebel military commander, László Iván Kovács and Others, Csepel insurgents, Károly Szente and his companions condemned .

## Judge at the Imre Nagy Court

1958 . On June 15, the Supreme Court's Judiciary Council led Imre Nagy to death and complete confiscation of property. Ferenc Donáth, former member of the MSZMP Interim Administration Committee, 12 years in prison, Miklós Gimes journalist to death, former President Zoltán Tildy State Secretary of the Imre Nagy Government, six years in prison, Pál Maléter Defense Minister to death, Sándor Kopácsi, Deputy Commander of the National Guard , Ferenc Jánosi was sentenced to eight years in prison, Miklós Vásárhelyi, the government's press officer for 5 years.

Until the death of Ferenc Vida, he denied that the leaders of the MSZMP, or János Kádár himself, had ordered death sentences. In any case, in recognition of the activities of the 1956 Revolution and the War of Independence, the Kádár leadership honored the Hungarian Freedom Merit.

Vida was a faithful communist until the blindness. He was convinced of Imre Nagy's "counter-revolutionary" guilt and the need for the most serious judgment. In the retaliation after 1956, Vida was known for his contradictory conduct and numerous death sentences before political leadership.The Hungarian political leadership - according to Ivan Serov - personally knowing Kádár decided to sentence Imre Nagy to death by essentially appointing Vida to lead the trial.

Vida, in 1989, said that Zoltán Radó: “Zoltán Radó could not lead the trial. There was no more than an interrogation of the accused during the Rado trial. The defendants led the trial, and Rado ran after them, unable to bring the matter together.”

In contrast to him, Vida behaved in the style of the judges of classical Stalinist political lawsuits, aside from the impartiality of the judge, as well as the prosecutor himself, as well as a conception of the guilty of the accused and the verdict.

In the retaliation of 1956, Ferenc Vida often attacked the accused with uncontrolled rage. He interrupted his position, did not give way to his position, stifled the word to the accused in an instructive style, if they wanted to disclose information contradicting the political concept of the case, leaving no room for further expression. Vida has been deeply identified emotionally by the accusations, his voice is "honest and profoundly indignant and even hateful."

"(yelling) I'm sorry! Listen to me when I talk! What title do you have for detective detention ... to refer to your reduced intelligence? Here you are the accused, understand it! And here you can't speak in this voice! Let's speak with a fair voice, because the court can use serious, harder tools!
[...]

Here is what a fair voice is and what a decent ..., an unworthy voice, I make it! (beats the table rhythmically) And if you can't behave properly, behave fairly, I'll teach you! Understand it!"

- Ferenc Vida at the meeting of József Szilágyi, 1958.

In his interview in 1989, he said: "I can't imagine the more disgusting thing, because someone is sitting on the pulpit, judge, advises, and who's under the charge, starts to yell, and mock, I don't know what to do . I can't imagine anything more terrible than this.”

Until his death, Vida insisted that no illegality was committed in his trial. In reality, he was in a series of lawlessness during the trial. He rejected all defense motions without justification. If the accused had called for the witnesses to be summoned or the documents were presented, Vida gave no or very limited support for that. During the trial, no witness could bring the defense, all the witnesses testified to the accusation.

He saw the change of regime as a pensioner. In 1989, he made more statements. He didn't show regret. At the time of Imre Nagy's reburial in 1989, he left his family home in the vicinity of Lake Balaton for fear of possible popular anger and confrontation.