BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — The leader of Hungary's largest opposition party on Sunday told thousands of supporters that he would guide his country out of its international isolation if he defeats Prime Minister Viktor Orbán in elections scheduled for next year.
Péter Magyar, the leader of the Respect and Freedom (Tisza) party, represents the most serious challenge to Orbán's power since the right-wing populist leader took power in 2010. Recent polling suggests that Tisza has overtaken Orbán's Fidesz party as Hungary struggles with a stagnating economy and has been politically sidelined in the European Union over Orbán's policies.
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Supporters attend a rally for the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)
Leader of the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party Peter Magyar wave a Hungarian flag before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)
Leader of the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party Peter Magyar speaks to supporters before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)
Supporters attend a rally for the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)
Leader of the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party Peter Magyar speaks to supporters before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)
Leader of the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party Peter Magyar speaks to supporters before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)
Speaking at a rally in Budapest on Sunday, Magyar said that, if elected, he and his party would restore Hungary's relationships and reputation among its allies that have suffered as Orbán has attacked the European Union and pursued close relationships with autocracies like Russia and China.
“We will finally put our common affairs in order,” Magyar said. "Our homeland, Hungary, will once again be a proud and reliable ally of NATO. Hungary will once again be a full-fledged member of the European Union.”
Orbán, a self-described “illiberal” leader, has been accused by critics of having led Hungary out of the community of European democracies by eroding democratic institutions, violating judicial independence and taking over much of Hungary's media.
Since taking power in 2010, he and his Fidesz party have led the country with a two-thirds majority in parliament, and easily defeated any opposition.
But recent polls suggest that Tisza has pulled ahead of Fidesz in popularity as Magyar's campaign focuses on economic and social issues facing the country like persistent inflation, a poor healthcare system and alleged government corruption.
On Sunday, Magyar said Orbán's system “cannot be reformed, cannot be fixed, cannot be improved. This system can only be replaced, and that is what we will do — lawfully, democratically, but with determination, we will cut down the regime.”
Nóra Farkas, a supporter of Magyar at the rally, said she had hoped for Orbán's defeat in Hungary's last national elections in 2022, but that with around a year to go before the next ballot, she is more confident that change is possible.
“Anyone who thinks things are going well in this country is blind. Orbán and his circle are the main reason for the problems," she said.
Béla Szandelszky in Budapest, Hungary contributed.
Supporters attend a rally for the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)
Leader of the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party Peter Magyar wave a Hungarian flag before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)
Leader of the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party Peter Magyar speaks to supporters before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)
Supporters attend a rally for the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)
Leader of the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party Peter Magyar speaks to supporters before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)
Leader of the Hungarian opposition Tisza Party Peter Magyar speaks to supporters before the results of the party's public survey entitled 'Voice of the Nation' is announced in Budapest, Hungary, Sunday, April 13, 2025. (Zoltan Balogh/MTI via AP)
DEDHAM, Mass. (AP) — The second murder trial of Karen Read, whose case has sparked a national debate on police accountability and won her legions of devoted fans, began Tuesday with opening statements addressing theories about how her Boston police officer boyfriend ended up dead.
Read is accused of striking John O’Keefe with her SUV in 2022 and leaving him to die alone in the snow outside of a house party in the town of Canton, a suburb about 20 miles (32 kilometers) south of Boston. She has been charged with second-degree murder, manslaughter while operating a vehicle under the influence and leaving the scene.
During the first trial last year, prosecutors said Read intentionally backed into O’Keefe after she dropped him off at a house party and returned hours later to find him dead. The defense said she was a victim of a vast police conspiracy and that O’Keefe was fatally beaten by another law enforcement officer at the party.
A mistrial was declared last year after jurors said they were at an impasse and deliberating further would be futile. A new prosecutor, Hank Brennan, is heading the state's case for the retrial. Attorney Alan Jackson presented the defense's opening statement.
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As he did during the first trial, Jackson said Read’s taillight was damaged that morning as she clipped another vehicle at O’Keefe’s house, where she was staying, not from hitting O’Keefe after she dropped him off at the party.
He said the defense will introduce a video to show how the taillight was damaged.
“During the course of this trial, the commonwealth is going to desperately claim that Karen Read taillight was actually damaged by hitting John O’Keefe,” he told jurors. “They’ll have no evidence of it mind you. None. But they’ll make the claim.”
Jackson called the case “the very definition of reasonable doubt” and said prosecutors can not meet their burden of proof “when every piece of this case was handled by a disgraced investigator with a motive to protect his friends”
“By the end of this trial, you’ll conclude that Karen Read is not guilty of hitting John O’Keefe with her SUV. There was no collision,” he said. “She’s the victim of a botched and biased and corrupted investigation that was never about the truth, folks. It was about preserving loyalty.”
Jackson said O’Keefe’s injuries do not suggest he was hit by a car at all.
“Not a bruise,” the defense lawyer said.
Jackson told the jury that they will learn O’Keefe had abrasions consistent with being bitten by a dog. He said the injury to O’Keefe’s head was also not consistent with falling backwards onto the ground, as prosecutors alleged.
Jackson said medical evidence will also establish that hypothermia was not a factor, as prosecutors alleged. He said O’Keefe was injured somewhere warm and then moved, and that establishes reasonable doubt.
Jackson described the state’s case as hinging on fired state trooper Michael Proctor, whom he described as a “cancer.”
Proctor was the lead investigator in the Read case. Jackson said Proctor is the key to the state’s case and is also its “Achilles heel.”
Jackson listed a litany of failures in the investigation, including that investigators didn’t search the house, secure the crime scene or properly collect evidence. He then touched on sexist and crude texts about Read’s family and colleagues that surfaced during the first trial and eventually led to Proctor’s firing.
Jackson characterized Read as victimized by a police culture that sought go protect fellow cops.
Read’s defense team used its opening statement to describe her as a victim of a cover-up and to stress that she didn’t kill O’Keefe.
“At the end of the day folks, there was no collision with John O’Keefe,” Jackson said.
The defense attorney said the case will show that O’Keefe wasn’t hit by Read’s car. He acknowledged that O’Keefe’s death was a “tragic loss,” but said the investigation was corrupted by bias and deceit.
“The evidence in this case will establish ... above everything else three points — there was no collision with Jon O’Keefe. There was no collision. There was no collision,” Jackson said. “John O’Keefe did not die from being hit by a vehicle. The facts will show that. The evidence will show that. The data will show that. The science will show that and the experts will tell you that.”
Read and O’Keefe were headed to the end of their relationship before O’Keefe died, Brennan said.
He described how the couple’s relationship was faltering before O’Keefe died. They were arguments a few days before O’Keefe was killed and that O’Keefe had asked Read to leave, he said.
Brennan said text messages will be presented showing the tension between the couple and how Read would become irate when her calls weren’t returned.
“You will read those text messages and you will realize this was the beginning of the end of this relationship,” he told the jurors.
Brennan told the jury that O’Keefe was a “family man” who was a pillar of his community and was much more than just a police officer.
O’Keefe was a single parent of two children whom he adopted when his sister and her husband died within months of each other, Brennan said. Brennan said he cared for the children as if they were his own and provided them stability and love.
O’Keefe’s tumultuous relationship with Read changed all that, Brennan said.
“They led a good life,” Brennan said. “Enter Karen Read.”
Brennan began opening statements by describing the scene where O’Keefe was found dead.
He opened by describing how firefighters and paramedics got a call about a cardiac arrest. They jumped into the ambulance and headed out in near blizzard conditions. Their ambulance was sliding along the road and they couldn’t hear anything beyond the sound of the siren.
Arriving at 34 Fairview Road, they came upon a chaotic scene.
“He stepped out into bedlam,” Brennan said. “He heard a woman screaming.”
They came upon Karen Read, who he said told paramedics, “I hit him, I hit him.”
“It was at that time in the words of the defendant that she admitted what she had done that night, that she hit John O’Keefe,” Brennan said.
The judge addressed the heavy public interest in the trial before opening statements began.
Judge Beverly Cannone told the jury to ignore public comment about the trial while it is going on. She also told jurors it’s important not to conduct independent research or look at news coverage of the trial.
“You will decide what the facts are, where the evidence is contested, you will determine where the truth lies,” she said. “This trial will be decided by you, an independent jury.”
Cannone also told the jury not to use social media during the trial.
The jurors have entered the courtroom and received their instructions for the trial.
After giving them the instructions, the judge asked if they had refrained from discussing the case or doing any independent research about it.
The court also heard the charges against Read.
Judge Beverly Cannone said she received four motions over the weekend that need to be addressed.
She ruled that the defense can’t mention a consulting firm in their openings, which led the defense to request to be heard. They then entered into a sidebar with the defense arguing the firm should be mentioned.
The courtroom is packed, with little room for anyone other than essential court personnel and media.
The trial seats about 10 people on both sides. Read’s family is on one side and the O’Keefe’s are on the other – about 10 on each side.
Read could be seen chatting and smiling with her attorneys Alan Jackson and David Yannetti. Reporters are behind them, sitting on stools.
Barriers are set up on both sides of the street in front of the building. Several state troopers and police officers are also positioned around the courthouse.
Police ordered a truck driver who slowed down to yell “Free Karen Read” to move along, and also chased off someone who was shooting video with their phone.
Read arrived at court just before 8:50 a.m. to some cheers from assembled supporters.
Family members from both sides also arrived just before 9 a.m.
Read smiled briefly as she entered the court. She did not answer a question about whether she was ready for her second trial.
The court had a police presence to try to maintain order as supporters gathered outside.
Supporters of Karen Read have assembled outside court in advance of her new trial.
The scene among supporters is similar to a reunion, with people hugging one another and calling out their names.
Ashlyn Wade, a Read supporter from Canton, where John O’Keefe was killed, said she was there to hopefully see Read cleared of charges.
“I’m here for justice,” she said. “The murderer going to jail and Karen being Exonerated — that would be justice.”
Dennis Sweeney, dressed as the judge in the case and wearing a pink T-shirt emblazoned with the word “assassin.” which was inspired by Read’s defense team, said he returned for the second trial because: “Karen Read is factually innocent and we want her freed.”
Supporters of Karen Read gather outside a buffer zone and watch Read's trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Special prosecutor Hank Brennan gives his opening argument at Karen Read's second murder trial at Norfolk Superior Court on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Stuart Cahill /The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Supporters of Karen Read gather outside a buffer zone and watch Read's trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Supporters of Karen Read gather outside a buffer zone and watch Read's trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Attorney Alan Jackson gives his opening statement at Karen Read's second murder trial at Norfolk Superior Court on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Stuart Cahill /The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Special prosecutor Hank Brennan gives his opening argument at Karen Read's second murder trial at Norfolk Superior Court on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Stuart Cahill /The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Karen Read listens during opening arguments at Norfolk Superior Court on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Stuart Cahill /The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Supporters of Karen Read gather on the steps at Norfolk Superior Court prior to Read's trial, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Supporters of Karen Read gather on the steps at Norfolk Superior Court prior to Read's trial, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Supporters of Karen Read gather outside Norfolk Superior Court prior to Read's trial, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read arrives with her lead defense attorney Alan Jackson, left, for her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Prosecutor Hank Brennan arrives for the trial of Karen Read at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Judge Beverly Cannone listens in Norfolk Superior Court during Karen Read's trial on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Stuart Cahill /The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Karen Read and her defense team appear in Norfolk Superior Court on Tuesday, April 22, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Stuart Cahill /The Boston Herald via AP, Pool)
Supporters of Karen Read gather on the steps at Norfolk Superior Court prior to Read's trial, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read arrives with her defense team for her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read arrives with her defense team for her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
Karen Read arrives with her defense team for her trial at Norfolk Superior Court, Tuesday, April 22, 2025, in Dedham, Mass. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)
The Karen Read defense team and prosecutor face off in Norfolk Superior Court for final motions before the start of Read's second trial for the 2022 death of her boyfriend John O'Keefe on Wednesday, April 16, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Karen Read sits with attorney Victoria George, who was a juror on her first trial and now part of her defense team, during Read's second trial for the 2022 death of her boyfriend John O'Keefe on Wednesday, April 16, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
Karen Rad listens to prosecutor Hank Brennan during her second trial for the 2022 death of her boyfriend John O'Keefe on Wednesday, April 16, 2025 in Dedham, Mass. (Greg Derr/The Patriot Ledger via AP, Pool)
