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theatreReuters

The Hungarian Jewish Faith alliance filed an official complaint on Tuesday on behalf of a renowned Hungarian Jewish actor who was termed a "filthy Jew" at a local cultural board meeting in the northern town of Eger, AFP reported.

The complaint to the public prosecutor’s office came amid allegations that actor Jozsef Szekhelyi, who has starred in over 50 local films, was refused participation in the city’s annual cultural festival because “he was not welcome by the inhabitants of the city.”  

The claim was substantiated when an audio recording was produced of a local cultural board meeting of September 2011, at which one of the participants said that, “Just because everybody says that Szekhelyi is a filthy Jew..., he is still a good actor who is fantastic at reciting (15th century French poet Francois) Villon.”

The Jewish federation of communities Mazsihisz asked the prosecutor to look into the incident and hold guilty parties accountable. The mayor of Eger, Lazlo Habis, has also initiated an investigation into the meeting of the committee of culture and tourism.

It is believed that the hostility towards Szekhelyi may have originiated in 2005, when he wrote a parody of the Hungarian national anthem and serving right-wing Prime Minister Viktor Orban, which was not well-received.