Előd Tóásó’s Prison Sentence May Soon Come to an End - Interview

HBAid: In your opinion, how much did the aid organization help?

Edit: Other than Csaba Lukács, Hungarian Baptist Aid was the most helpful. They stood beside us all the way, from the beginning and we have received a lot of help from them, for example, we were able to go to Bolivia. They always showed me love, care, said a kind word to me, or just listened to me if that is what I needed. When we needed a place for a press conference, they were able to provide it right away. I can tell you one thing: if Előd comes home, I would like to thank the Hungarian Baptist Aid through some kind of work. I simply adore them.

H: What did you feel upon hearing the news?

E: I followed closely the events and two days ago I already knew that the decision has been made. I knew that the plea bargain started at 11:50 am. Naturally I was very worried and I was anxious to see if what they agreed on would happen. I had doubts and still do today, because Előd is in prison now and a long time may pass until he will be released. This may mean a few weeks, but may be even months. I paid attention to everything and shared all the information I knew with the Hungarians because there were many who took our side and cheered with us through these five years and ten months.

H: Am I right if I say that another judge is in charge of his release?

E: That’s right, a criminal court judge decides the penalty, which is then signed and stamped, it is officially sent to the prison judge, and if he works, he will help the case move forward. We give our every effort to urge him, whether it may be through the honorary consul or the Hungarian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, to contact the Bolivian union representative. I want them to say that this is the end of the story and they want to take their citizen home.

H: They said that Előd is not a terrorist. Why is this especially important?

E: It is to Előd and to the others as well. This is not a game. The Bolivians throw this word around lightly, but many people die in the world and when hearing the word ‘terrorism,’ a simple Hungarian citizen thinks of terrible things. But so it would be clear for everyone, in their case no one died and there was nothing more than a fifty dollar damage that they did not cause. So it is unacceptable to call him a terrorist. If he had not accepted the plea bargain, I’m sure that sooner or later the verdict of a 30 year prison sentence would have been born where they declare him a terrorist.

H: Even though he accepted the plea bargain and through this he gave up his freedom, he wasn’t involved in armed conspiracies. Will they be able to prove this accusation wrong?

E: It is not realistic to think that Előd Tóásó as a teacher, Árpád Magyarosi as a teacher, and Michael Dwyer as a newly graduated university student would be capable of armed rebellion. They say this about Eduardo Rózsa Flores, because he fought in the South Slavic War. It was so simple for them…the Bolivians used this information very well and communicated it very well. So much so that it took a very long time to erase the words “president assassins” from international press. But still today in the Hungarian press there have been some who said they were planning to assassinate the president.

H: You are at the end of long battle. Are you tired?

E: These five years, ten months and five days have been very difficult. It required a lot of patience from my family. I was always surrounded by obstacles, there are still walls like this and there will be more. I have no doubt that after he comes home to Hungary, there will still be people who say that he is a terrorist. But he is a good person, who will find his goal in life. It doesn’t matter what others think.

H: Two of them are coming home…

E: Yes, Mario is coming home too to his child, who was a baby when he left.

H: Here in Szár, what did people think of his battle?

E: They always talked about Előd and cheered. Here, as well as elsewhere, the majority knew him and did not fall for any negative campaigns. I was reading that the people who questioned why he went to Bolivia are questioning why he’s coming home.

H: Előd’s wife is also coming. Will there be a wedding in Hungary?

E: They only had a civil wedding in Bolivia because they wanted to have the church wedding in Hungary. But we will find out… maybe they change their minds, they’re not sure, but we are looking forward to it.