Ökotárs Foundation has lost the case at first instance in which it sued the Prime Minister’s Office and Deputy State Secretary for Development Policy Communication Nándor Csepreghy on the grounds of defamation.

On Tuesday, Mr Csepreghy recalled to MTI that last spring when the dispute between the government of Hungary and the Norway Grants arose, he called the fund management organisations in Hungary “fraudulent putty clubs”. This is why one of the these organisations, Ökotárs filed a suit against him and the Prime Minister’s Office for defamation.

On Tuesday the Budapest-Capital Regional Court decided in its verdict that this statement was “not made without grounds” at that time – the Deputy State Secretary said.

He added that the Prime Minister’s Office does not intend to comment on the verdict but the government’s interest is to ensure that all public resources coming to Hungary, allocated to finance civil organisations, are actually used to support a wide range of civil organisations. He emphasised that those organisations that are trying to provide these resources to a narrow, marginalised group do more harm than good to the whole of society.

Also, he mentioned that in their view, this practice characterised the operation of Ökotárs today as well.

(Prime Minister's Office)