RFE/RL NEWSLINE 
Vol. 1, No. 142, 20 October 1997

HUNGARIAN CONSTITUTIONAL COURT ACCUSES OFFICIALS OF
EXERTING PRESSURE. Constitutional Court Chairman Laszlo Solyom on
19 October said Foreign Minister Laszlo Kovacs and parliamentary
chairman Zoltan Gal exerted pressure on the court before its ruling
on the referendum on foreign ownership of land, Hungarian media
reported. Solyom said that in a telephone conversation, the two
politicians reminded one of the judges of the court's responsibility.
Kovacs rejected the accusation, saying Solyom's remark was a
"political attack in bad taste." He said the telephone conversation was
only to brief the judge on the date of the planned referendum and
how it fitted into the NATO enlargement timetable.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
               Copyright (c) 1997 RFE/RL, Inc.
                     All rights reserved.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx