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BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — A Hungarian publishing company says it has fired five employees, including top editors, after an interview with Prime Minister Viktor Orban published Dec. 24 in a regional newspaper was altered to include statements he did not make.
Orban, for example, was falsely quoted as saying that the number of corpses in hospitals was rising, that the government was not interested in people's opinions and that he wished more people would revert to the "pagan interpretation of Christmas."
The Pannon Lapok Tarsasaga company, part of a media portfolio recently acquired by a close Orban ally, said Wednesday that a review of computer data and interviews with employees indicate that staffers may have been responsible for the changes.
The company has asked police to investigate the incident.
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