匈牙利總統深陷“抄襲門”：論文被證實部分雷同

BUDAPEST, Hungary — A committee charged with investigating allegations of plagiarism against Hungary’s president said the politician had written a doctoral dissertation that directly copied several pages from one publication and borrowed heavily from another one.

But the panel also noted that Pal Schmitt had identified these publications in the bibliography of his 1992 dissertation, and it did not use the word “plagiarism” in a three-page summary of its findings made public Tuesday. Instead, the panel shifted blame toward the University of Physical Education, saying it should have noticed and called attention to Schmitt’s “unusually extensive” copying.

The findings drew the ire of Hungary’s main opposition parties, who demanded that Schmitt resign as president. But the governing Fidesz party — which Schmitt once helped lead as its vice president and which backed his election in 2010 — said it now “considers the matter closed.”

Internet publication uncovered Schmitt’s copying in January and first raised the plagiarism issue. The five-member investigative committee at Budapest’s Semmelweis University, to which Schmitt’s alma mater now belongs, included four university professors and a lawyer. The lawyer, Akos Fluck, wrote a dissenting opinion, which also has not been made public.

The full 1,157-page report has not been released to the public. It was forwarded to Miklos Rethelyi, Hungary’s Minister of National Resources, who oversees educational matters and is expected to give his opinion on the subject. Schmitt’s thesis was titled “Analysis of the programs of the modern Olympic Games.”

The committee found that 17 pages of Schmitt’s thesis were a direct translation of a book by Klaus Heinemann published in 1991, while a further 180 pages of the 215-page thesis showed “partial similarity” to a 1987 work by Bulgarian sports official Nikolay Georgiev, a former member of the International Olympic Committee.

Several of the tables and diagrams in Schmitt’s thesis were also taken from Georgiev’s publication, some with slight alterations, the committee said.

It added that while the dissertation lacked footnotes, citations and quotation marks, had a haphazard biography and numerous other flaws, the proceedings which resulted in Schmitt’s doctorate complied with the university’s formal requirements of the time.

“The University of Physical Education made a professional error when it failed to uncover in time this sameness of texts and therefore the author of the paper may have believed that his dissertation meets expectations,” the committee said in its summary.

Schmitt, a former Olympic fencing champion and a member of the IOC since 1983, was elected in mid-2010 for a five-year term as president.【新聞快訊】可能很多人還記得德國前國防部長古騰貝格去年因涉嫌論文抄襲而黯然辭職的事情。針對匈牙利總統的論文抄襲門事件，匈牙利澤梅爾魏斯大學於27日公佈了對總統施米特・帕爾的博士論文是否抄襲的調查結果，指出部分內容確實與其他學者的文章相同。

澤梅爾魏斯大學在網站上公佈了該校調查委員會的調查結果，指出在施米特1992年的博士論文中，第34頁至50頁與德國學者克勞斯・海涅曼的一篇文章相同，另有180頁的內容與保加利亞體育專家尼古拉・格奧爾基耶夫的論文部分一致。

調查委員會說，施米特的論文有大量內容來自外文翻譯，文中對引用內容沒有標明，也沒有做腳註和尾註。委員會已將調查報告提交國家資源部長。

不少匈牙利媒體都將施米特同古滕貝格相提並論，並暗示如果證明“抄襲”屬實，施米特也應該向古騰貝格一樣選擇辭職。同時，匈牙利的主要反對黨也都認爲調查 報告對施密特論文事件輕描淡寫，爲施密特的抄襲進行掩飾，並要求施密特引咎辭職。甚至有反對黨要以“僞造文件罪”追究施密特的刑事責任。

施密特總統年輕時是一名非常優秀的擊劍運動員，曾經兩次獲得奧運會冠軍。1989年至2010年任匈牙利奧委會主席，在此期間，他在1992年獲得匈牙利體育大學博士學位。2010年6月，作爲執政黨青民盟 的總統候選人，施密特當選匈牙利總統。