Péter Sárosi

Executive Director of the Rights Reporter Foundation.

He is a human rights activist and drug policy expert, the founder and editor of the Drugreporter website since 2004, the author of countless articles, co-author of books and director of films about harm reduction and drug policy reform. He was the Director of the Drug Policy Program at the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union between 2004 and 2015. He is experienced in working at international drug policy forums such as the Commission on Narcotic Drugs. He was twice elected to the Core Group of the EU Civil Society Forum on Drugs. He is advisory board member of the Eurasian Harm Reduction Association (EHRA) and the Steering Committee member of the Correlation European Harm Reduction Network. He was representing the Hungarian Harm Reduction Network at the government’s drug advisory body in Hungary between 2007 and 2015. As a member of the Drugreporter video advocacy team, he has produced videos about drug policy issues in a number of countries. These videos are now part of a unique online drug policy video library.

Orbán Strikes Civil Society Again

by

The Hungarian government has adopted new rules designed to intimidate Hungarian NGOs and people who donate money to them. With the space for civil society in Hungary rapidly shrinking, the support and solidarity of the international community is needed more than ever.

Outsourcing Autocracy: The Rise of the Hungarian Deep State

by

The right-wing authoritarian government of Hungary decided to give away billions of Euros in public funds to private foundations controlled by a small political-economic elite. Thereby effectively forming a shadow government that can continue to rule the country, regardless of the results of the parliamentary elections.     

The Deep Moral Crisis of the Hungarian Establishment

by

The tale of the anti-gay MEP arrested at a gay sex party is not the first, and probably won’t be the last in the long line of scandals that reveal the deep moral crisis of the Hungarian elite. But will it be enough to shake Orban’s system? On a cold Friday night at the end […]

David Takes on Goliath: The Struggle for Academic Freedom in Hungary

by

For a month now, hundreds of Hungarian students have occupied their campus and resist the government’s pressure to eliminate the autonomy of their university. Their fight attracted international attention and evoked support from broad ranges of society. In this article we try to put this story in the context and present you the challenges of resisting autocracy in a hybrid regime.

Hungarian Public Foundation Rejects NGO Application for EU Funding over Unlawful Foreign Agent Law

by

In June, the highest court in the European Union ruled that Hungary’s Foreign Agent Law requiring NGOs with foreign funding to self-identify and disclose their donors was unlawful. A few months later, a Hungarian public foundation operated by the government denied Power of Humanity Foundation, a human rights education NGO, EU funding over noncompliance with the same law. The NGO is asking the European Commission to investigate.

Solidarity with Belarus – Protest in Budapest

by

On 9th of September, exactly one month after the first protests started in Belarus against the unfair elections, the Belarusian community in Budapest organised a demonstration in front of the parliament to support those who fight against police brutality and autocracy in their country. Watch this short video report we produced at the event!