As you know Agnes was arrested on Tuesday of last week after an unscheduled birth took place at her birth centre. Because of complications the ambulance services were called and the mother and child were urgently transferred to hospital. Fortunately, the mother was fine and soon discharged herself from hospital and, thankfully, the news on the baby boy's progress remains positive. Shortly after the birth the police arrived and proceeded to lock up the apartment which serves as a birth centre and took Agnes into custody. The police then detained Agnes for 72 hours without charging her. During this time she only had access to her lawyer. Agnes was then taken before a closed criminal court and charged with a serious criminal offence. If found guilty, Agnes could stay in prison for up to five years. Right now Agnes remains in jail without bail for a further 30 days.

Obviously, these are very difficult days for Agnes herself.

These are difficult days for her family who still have not seen their mother.

These are difficult days for the homebirth communities and their supporters, both inside and outside Hungary.

These are difficult days for Hungarian parents who seek no more than the right to have their babies at home. A right already guaranteed by the Hungarian Constitution, yet one that they still cannot enjoy without harassment from their own State. We hope this important legal fact is not lost on the Hungarian Ambassador Lászlő Szőke. We ask the Ambassador to send a clear message back to his government from all of you gathered here today, that a responsible country must uphold its constitution and the rights and protections afforded by it to all of its citizens.

But the imprisonment of Agnes is a time not only of sadness but also of shame for the silent majority in Hungary.

The silent majority who stood back, over the last twenty years, as Agnes and all independent midwives and homebirth parents were relentlessly exposed to levels of harassment and intimidation from police, ambulance and hospital staff, wherever and whenever a homebirth delivery transferred to the hospital system.

The silent majority who permitted a campaign of vilification and criminalisation to operate, for the past twenty years, to protect the interests of a small clique of obstetricians. Obstetricians desperate to maintain their own power and earning potential from hospital births, which is recognised as one of the most lucrative branches of Hungary's supposedly free healthcare system. About 90,000 births take place in Hungary a year. That's 1.8 million in the 20 years since your and our 'velvet revolutions'. But what has changed in birthing practice? All we are asking is for women to be empowered, in hospital and at home, to give birth in the position, in the way, and with those present, whom they choose. Our campaign to free Agnes is not just about homebirth. It is about establishing a mother-centred, midwife-centred, baby-centred practice in hospitals as well. Instead of the current practice of doctor centred births, with its emphasis on constant intervention by the doctor in what should be a natural process. We respect the doctors as experts that we would like to call on, when they are needed. But only then.

Agnes stood before a public court just two days ago, to face other criminal charges related to home birth. She stood in court in handcuffs, with leg restraints, between two police officers to face the judge. This, in a courtroom that ought to uphold the rights and dignity of all, on the principle that all are innocent until proven guilty.

The Nobel Peace prize was awarded to the brave Chinese dissident, Liu Xiao-bo, who is currently serving an eleven year prison sentence. Today, 21 years after the collapse of the totalitarian system, eastern Europe has a dissident again: Agnes Gereb. Her only crime was to stand up to the leading body of the Hungarian Obstetric and Gynecological Profession.

The Hungarian mainstream media has continuously misrepresented the work and aims of both Agnes Gereb and the home birthing community. Much, though not all media coverage has been malicious, and a travesty of professional journalism.

Yesterday in Hungary, the managing director of the Aluminium company responsible for an industrial accident which caused the death of 9 people so far, injuries to 150, and enormous ecological damage was released by the judge after 72 hours in detention.

Dr Agnes Gereb, who has devoted her life to improving birth practices in Hungary, who has personally attended the safe delivery of nearly 9,000 babies, of which more than 3,500 were at home, was remanded in custody for 30 days. The Hungarian legal practice is to keep suspects in prison for a year or more, without trial. Is there one law for the rich, and another for the honest?

We call for fair and just standards to be applied by the Hungarian legal system which must lead to the early release of an innocent and wronged Agnes Gereb

We call for proper, progressive homebirth regulations to be debated and passed urgently into law by the Hungarian Parliament.

To facilitate this, we call for a genuine public debate, in which the opinions of independent midwives, parents, and international medical experts are given due weight.

We call on the Hungarian Constitutional Court, and the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, to rule quickly on the complaints presented by the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, which finds the Hungarian state in breach of the constitution for failing to regulate home birth, as required by the Hungarian civil rights ombudsman in 1998.

We call on the the Hungarian media to report accurately and responsibly with regards to the issues surrounding Agnes Gereb and homebirthing.

And finally we call for justice and truth for Agnes because these are her greatest allies, in her struggle, and our joint struggle. Thank you all for your support here in Prague today. With your help, she will be able to return to her family, to her community and to her work. She deserves all of this and more.

Děkuji