Hungarian President Katalin Novak on Saturday resigned from her post following a protest over a pardon granted to a man implicated in a child sexual abuse case. Novak announced her resignation during a TV address. Former Justice Minister of Hungary, Judit Varga, also said she was withdrawing from public life after the event.  

"Today I resigned from my office as President of Hungary. Thank you for everything to all my friends in all four corners of the world. Hungary🇭🇺 is a wonderful country with marvelous people, a good partner, an even better friend and a reliable ally. I am glad that in the past years I could work to raise awareness of this in the world," Novak said.  

A fervid protest was witnessed outside the presidential palace on Friday evening over the decision to grant pardon to a former deputy director of a children's home. Opposition parties also expressed their ire over the decision.

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“I am resigning my post. I apologise to those who I hurt and all the victims who may have had the impression that I did not support them. I am, I was and I will remain in favour of protecting children and families,” 46-year-old Novak said while acknowledging her mistake. Novak apologised and said she made "a mistake" in granting the pardon.

The controversy which led to the resignations came after the names of 25 people pardoned by Novak in April last year, as part of a visit to Hungary by Pope Francis, were made public by Hungarian media last week.

The list also included the deputy director of the children's home, who was allegedly forcing children to retract claims of abuse against the director of the home, BBC reported. He was facing a three-year jail sentence in the case. The director of the children's home has however been serving a jail sentence of eight years for abusing children at the government-run facility. 

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Novak was in Qatar to attend Hungary's match against Kazakhstan at the World Water Polo Championships on Friday. As soon as her plane landed in Budapest, she announced the most unexpected and swift resignation.