As of January, victims may reveal the names of secret agents who reported on them during the communist era, announced Minister of State Bence Rétvári in Parliament on Tuesday after the National Assembly has adopted the proposal on setting up the Commission on National Remembrance.

As the Parliamentary Secretary of public administration pointed out in front of journalists, the decision was not merely about setting up the Commission, but the numerous encryption and other rules in force since 1990 related to understanding the past have now been amended significantly as well. The Commission on National Remembrance itself will be the driving force of understanding the past, stressed the Parliamentary Secretary.

A door was closed shut in 1990; as it became impossible to get to know the names of different communist state intelligence and secret service agents. This door has now been opened up by virtue of law, said Mr. Rétvári.

From 1 January 2014, when the relevant piece of legislation enters into force, not a single agent or secret intelligence service officer can feel safe; their names may be revealed at any time, by any of their former victims. As of this date, all victims will be enabled and entitled to expose the names of anyone who reported on them from the secret services; indeed, they may publish these names or even post them on the internet. This could be one of the most important information compensations the victims have ever received, emphasised the Parliamentary Secretary. He also mentioned that Parliament is set to elect members of the Commission on National Remembrance (NEB) in January or February by a two-thirds majority.

Members of the Commission must have a birthday later than 14 February 1972; in addition, they must also have a degree in social sciences or law and a professional experience of five years. Candidates will be also subject to a national security screening.

As Mr. Rétvári explained, the Commission will work together with the Chief Prosecutor’s Office on a continuous basis, and if it finds any documents that may point to a crime which has previously not been pursued for political reasons, it will forward the given documents to the Prosecutor’s Office. As examples, the Parliamentary Secretary mentioned the volley lawsuits, post-1956 retributions and the ordering of executions. From this point on, the Prosecutor’s Office, as a general prosecution authority, will be pressing charges, he said.

According to Bence Rétvári, not only victims themselves, but everyone else will have considerably broader rights to information, and researchers will also gain wider access to files.

The Commission will also have an obligation to convert documents into electronic files and publish numerous files on its website, indicated Mr. Rétvári before adding, the NEB will be entitled to inspect any documents that are deemed classified and inaccessible even to researchers. It may also give recommendations to the secret keeper to release classified information, or exert pressure on those ordering the classification as they will be obligated to disclose any cases when the lifting of the classification was recommended.

Victims or, in certain cases, their relatives may receive the documents from the archives in a matter of a few weeks or months, said Mr. Rétvári in response to a question. From now on, the name of the person ordering or executing the intelligence gathering will not have to be blotted out, he said.

He also mentioned that the opinion of different parliamentary fractions was revealed clearly during the vote; it was obvious who supported wider publicity. Only Fidesz and KDNP representatives voted in favour of wide publicity. Opposition party MPs did not consent to this, said the Secretary of State.

(Ministry of Public Administration and Justice)