Amnesty Int'l Urges Merkel to Challenge Crackdown on NGOs in Hungary

Amnesty International asked German Chancellor Angela Merkel to influence Hungarian authorities to stop the sustained attack on non-governmental organizations.

MOSCOW, February 2 (Sputnik) — German Chancellor Angela Merkel must call on Hungarian authorities to stop the sustained attack on non-governmental organizations during her visit to the country, Amnesty International said in a statement Monday.

"The Hungarian authorities" ongoing assault on NGO's has all the hallmarks of a witch-hunt… Angela Merkel must not miss the opportunity to challenge these practices this week," Amnesty International's Europe and Central Asia Programme Director John Dalhuisen, was quoted as saying in the statement.

The statement comes alongside a report on a crackdown on NGOs in Hungary, published at the same time as Merkel's visit to the country on Monday.

New Amnesty report: #EU must insist #Hungary ends NGO 'witch-hunt' + 'campaign against independent critical voices' http://t.co/rMtAuNrlqd

— AmnestyEurope (@amnestyeurope) February 2, 2015

According to the report on the organization's website, high-level government officials including the Hungarian prime minister, started accusing NGOs of being "political activists" funded by "foreign interest groups," in mid-2014.

Following the accusations, the government commissioned an audit on 59 NGOs, financed by Norwegian government backed funding.

Since then, the NGOs experienced hostile media reports, office raids and criminal investigations. Four NGOs in Hungary are currently facing legal proceedings.

Dalhuisen added that the audit was politically motivated with no evidence of "criminal wrong-doing or financial irregularities."