<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister\u2019s Office failed in its last legal battle to prevent the disclosure of the hotel\u2019s names where its head, J\u00e1nos L\u00e1z\u00e1r, stayed on two 2013 trips. On Wednesday, Curia, the highest court in Hungary, upheld the previous verdict that forced the office to reveal the names of the hotels where L\u00e1z\u00e1r slept in Milan and Z\u00fcrich. Both trips drew attention because of unusually high hotel bills.<\/p>\n
That ruling was issued in March by the Budapest Court of Appeal. The Prime Minister\u2019s Office turned to the Curia with a request for legal review but the Curia rejected their arguments to overturn the previous verdict.<\/p>\n
The Curia said that the freedom of information law clearly defines public records as any information concerning activities of public officials. Only private information are excluded from this category but, the Curia argued, it cannot be considered private information where Mr. L\u00e1z\u00e1r stayed on his official trips.<\/p>\n
The Curia\u2019s ruling cannot be appealed. The Prime Minister\u2019s Office has to disclose the hotel names after receiving the written ruling. The whole process could take another few months.<\/p>\n
The public information lawsuit was launched by Andr\u00e1s Peth\u0151, a co-founder of Direkt36, last year when he was still working for newsportal Origo. Transparency International (TI) provided legal assistance for Peth\u0151, who was represented in the Budapest Court of Appeal by Daniel Karsai, an attorney co-operating with TI.<\/p>\n
The lawsuit started after the Prime Minister\u2019s Office had refused to answer questions about some of Mr. L\u00e1z\u00e1r\u2019s trips that resulted in unusually high hotel bills. On a 2012 November three-day trip to England the hotel stay cost more than 3000 euros for L\u00e1z\u00e1r and an official accompanying him. On a 2013 July trip to Milan the hotel cost more than 1920 euros per night for L\u00e1z\u00e1r and his aide. On a 2013 March trip to Zurich the hotel expense was 603 euros for one night. Earlier, the Prime Minister\u2019s Office said that the Zurich hotel room cost more than 1500 euros but later they revised the number, citing an accounting error.<\/p>\n
The Prime Minister\u2019s Office argued that the trips\u2019 details can not be released for national security reasons. They said that the trips were related to Mr. L\u00e1z\u00e1r\u2019s duties as the supervisor of the Information Agency, the government\u2019s intelligence office.<\/p>\n
The latest ruling does not cover Mr. L\u00e1z\u00e1r\u2019s visit to England. The Prime Minister\u2019s Office disclosed during the initial trial in the lower court that there was a confidential document pertaining to that trip. The court ruled that the hotel name should be disclosed as that information has not been classified. L\u00e1z\u00e1r\u2019s office appealed against the decision.<\/p>\n
L\u00e1z\u00e1r suggested that he might not follow the court\u2019s legally binding decision. \u201cThe court cannot verify whether what I say is true, because I can say that I do not remember, or I can say something that is not true about with whom I was in the hotel\u201d, said L\u00e1z\u00e1r on a press conference when asked about the court decision, according to Index.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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