Gyurcsány tells Budapest police chief to stay

"Budapest chief of police Péter Gergényi will remain in his post after Law Enforcement Minister József Petrétei refused to sign his retirement application following a plea from Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány," government spokeswoman Emese Danks announced on Monday.

Gyurcsány received Gergényi in his office yesterday to voice disagreement to the request and reportedly told the chief of police that his efforts are vital. The prime minister also disapproved of Gergényi resigning his post before investigations into the September 18 break-in at MTV and police legal violations, Népszabadság claimed.

Gergényi, who has a commission until autumn 2008, accepted the verdict and will remain in the position, despite telling a television station yesterday that he may become part-owner of a travel agency.

Unidentified senior police officers told Magyar Hírlap that it would have been more sensible to decide on Gergényi's future if they had studied a 101-page report on the MTV incident. Some police leaders claim that the prime minister offered Gergényi the job currently held by National Police leader László Bene. However Gyurcsány reassured Bene yesterday afternoon that he still enjoys his full confidence, Népszabadság reports.

Fidesz commented that Gyurcsány has thus admitted his own responsibility regarding the police brutality.

The above story is just one of more than two dozen published today by Hungary Around the Clock, the most comprehensive source of daily English-language news about Hungary. For a free trial of HATC, click here. Hungarian news sources include Népszabadság; Magyar Hírlap; Világgazdaság; Napi Gazdaság; Magyar Nemzet; Népszava; Kossuth Rádió news and Hungarian television's nightly news broadcast.

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