Viktória Mohácsi (born April 1, 1975, in Berettyóújfalu) is a Hungarian politician of Romani ethnicity. Between 2004 and 2009 she was a Member of the European Parliament (MEP), one of only a small caucus of Roma MEPs. She was a member of the Alliance of Free Democrats, part of the European Liberal Democrat and Reform Party. She replaced a party colleague, Gábor Demszky, on 1 December 2004. In the July 2009 European elections, she lost her seat.
Viktória Mohácsi | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of the European Parliament | |
| In office 2004–2009 | |
| Preceded by | Gábor Demszky |
| Succeeded by | ? |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 1 April 1975 Berettyóújfalu, Hungary |
| Political party | Alliance of Free Democrats |
In 2008 in Rome she was granted the "Premio Minerva" for her activity in defense of human rights of Roma. On 21 October, Mohácsi, who has taken the lead in documenting violence toward the Roma in Hungary, received Human Rights First's 2010 annual award in New York.
The Movement for Desegregation Foundation led by the former European Parliament Member Viktória Mohácsi, the leading domestic monitor of anti-Roma attacks and hate crimes documented 68 attacks, of which 12 lead to death between January 2008 and June 2010. In one of those attacks, in Tatarszentgyorgy, a man and his 5-year-old son were fatally shot as they fled from their burning house. The local police recorded that the man and the child had died from smoke inhalation, but under pressure from Mohácsi the case was reopened leading to the arrest of the neo-nazi perpetrators. Two police officers were disciplined internally in relation to the incident.[1][2]
In 2009, Mohácsi requested police protection due to death threats she had received which made reference to her ethnicity. Newspaper Népszabadság reported in February 2012 that the former Member of European Parliament Mohácsi has asked for asylum in Canada.[3] While her request was at first refused in 2017[4] her appeal was not successful either in 2018, even if several organizations published the opposite.[5] Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada suspended her Pre-Removal Risk Assessment, and granted her application on Humanitarian Grounds on April 26, 2018.
References
edit- ^ Rorke, Bernard. "Canada grants former MEP Viktoria Mohacsi asylum". European Roma Rights Centre. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ Donath, Mirjam. "EU lawmaker to Canada asylum seeker: a Roma's long trek". Reuters. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- ^ "Hungarian Roma activist, former member of European Parliament emigrates to Canada". Romea.cz. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
- ^ "RomNet - - Nem kapta meg a menedékjogot Kanadában Mohácsi Viktória". Romnet.hu. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
- ^ "RomNet - - Politikai menedékjogot kapott Kanadában Mohácsi Viktória". Romnet.hu. Retrieved 11 May 2018.