Budapest - The leader of the Hungarian far right political party Jobbik, Gabor Vona, was released by police in the early hours of Sunday after being detained during a protest against the outlawing of the paramilitary Hungarian Guard. Jobbik, which last month won three of Hungary's 22 seats in the European Parliament, will hold another protest next week, Vona said in a statement on the party's website, in which he spoke of "state terror."
Altogether 216 arrests were made on Saturday, police spokeswoman Eva Tafferner said. Seventeen demonstrators required treatment for light injuries, according to local media.
The Hungarian Socialist Party, the main force behind the current caretaker government, called on the centre-right opposition party Fidesz to sever the ties it has with Jobbik on numerous local councils.
Socialist politician Gergely Barandy said Jobbik's conduct on Saturday was evidence of a disregard for "democratic norms."
"The Socialist Party is waiting for Fidesz to clearly dissociate itself from Hungarian extremists and to be partner in creating an anti-fascist consensus," Barandy said.
Fidesz has a commanding lead in opinion polls and is expected to form Hungary's next government after the general elections due in April.
Some 200 members of the uniformed Hungarian Guard assembled in central Budapest on Saturday in defiance of a recent court ruling, and sat down with arms linked when ordered to disperse.
Vona, who founded the organisation in 2007 and remains its leader, joined the protest in the early evening just before the police began pulling the group apart one by one.
The Budapest Appeal Court on Thursday upheld a ruling that the uniformed group was guilty of violating the rights of Roma villagers during a rally against what it calls "Gypsy crime" in 2007.
The Hungarian Guard was just one of several strands of the Hungarian far right that were demonstrating.
Over a thousand protestors called for the release of Gyorgy Budahazy, a prominent figure on the Hungarian nationalist fringe, who was arrested on terrorism charges in June.
Some of them threw objects and scuffled with the riot police, who used tear gas to clear them from a square in the centre of the city.
