Former leftist-liberal Prime Minister of Hungary, Gordon Bajnai, is also among the signatories of a statement calling for the creation of a special tribunal for the punishment of the crime of aggression against Ukraine.
According to the petition:
“To help beat back President Putin’s heinous attempts to destroy peace in Europe, it is time for us to create such a Special Tribunal. By doing so we act in solidarity with Ukraine and its people, and signal our resolve that the crime of aggression will not be tolerated, and that we will leave no stone unturned in bringing to an end the terrible events we are now seeing, thereby ensuring that those who have unleashed such horrors are subject to personal accountability under the criminal law, so that justice can be done. The Special Tribunal should be constituted – on the same principles that guided the allies in 1942 – to investigate the acts of violence by Russia in Ukraine and whether they constitute a crime of aggression.”
The open letter has been signed by several former presidents and prime ministers, along with a number of law professionals from around the world, including Benjamin Ferencz, a former prosecutor of the Nuremberg Military Tribunal.
Besides Bajnai, another Hungarian, professor Boldizsár Nagy, from the Central European University’s (CEU) Department of International Relations, is also among the signatories.
Gordon Bajnai became Prime Minister in 2009, following Ferenc Gyurcsány’s resignation. He led the country until 2010. Under his term, he implemented several austerity measures amid a deepening economic crisis. In 2012, he reentered politics to establish the now-defunct Együtt (Together) party, but due to failures in the 2014 Parliamentary and EP elections, he left politics behind. As of now, he is no longer officially involved with any of the parties.
featured image via László Beliczay/MTI
