Searches were conducted at the headquarters of Orbán's Fidesz party, and servers were seized
The Hungarian prosecutor’s office conducted searches at the server center of the opposition party Fidesz, led by former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán. During the investigation, law enforcement officials seized the party’s communication system and databases. Fidesz claimed that this was an act of political pressure and called the incident unprecedented since the fall of the communist regime.
According to Fidesz Communications Director Bertalan Havasi, prosecutors arrived unannounced and seized the server equipment. He stated that there had been no similar actions in Hungary since 1990.
“Today, the dictatorship has reached a new level,” Havasi said, accusing the current government, led by the Tisa Party, of attempting to “legally neutralize” the opposition.
Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Magyar confirmed that the searches took place and that equipment was seized. At the same time, he noted that he is awaiting an official explanation from the prosecutor’s office regarding the reasons for the investigative actions.
It later emerged that the investigation is being conducted by the Bács-Kiskun County Prosecutor’s Office. According to the office, the searches are related to a case involving possible violations during the distribution of 17 billion forints (over 47 million euros) from the National Cultural Fund.
The prosecutor’s office reported that the criminal proceedings concern possible mismanagement of budget funds and other alleged crimes. Details of the investigation are not being disclosed at this time in the interest of the investigation.
This is not the first investigation into representatives of the previous administration following the change in government. Earlier, Hungarian authorities launched an investigation into former Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó on suspicion of treason due to his ties to Russia. The basis for this was the release of recordings of his telephone conversations with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov.
This was reported by HVG.
As a reminder, Hungarian opposition leader Péter Magyar reacted to Péter Szijjártó’s decision to leave parliament, stating that this indicates serious problems within the current administration.
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