Hungary detains two ex-ministers from Viktor Orbán's cabinet

Hungary has detained two former ministers from Viktor Orbán's government on suspicion of embezzlement and corruption: ex-culture minister Balázs Hankó and former regional development minister Miklós Sesták. On Monday, parliament stripped both men of their parliamentary immunity, after which police took them into custody.

What the ex-ministers are suspected of

According to Hungarian media, Hankó is suspected of embezzling 17 billion forints — around 1.1 billion crowns. Sesták is suspected of corruption involving 11 billion forints, around 730 million crowns.

A farewell to family in parliament

Former prime minister Orbán called what was happening a political reprisal. On his Facebook page he wrote that the ruling Tisza party of Prime Minister Péter Magyar “needs fresh victims every day.” “Today it's them, tomorrow it will be you. But they won't be able to lock up half the country,” Orbán said.

After losing his immunity, Hankó spent the entire Monday inside the parliament building, where he invited his wife and sons to join him. Parliament speaker Ágnes Forsthoffer of the Tisza party reminded him that “parliament is not a refuge and cannot be used as a means of obstructing criminal proceedings,” and urged him to leave voluntarily. Hankó did not leave until evening, after saying goodbye to his family, and was detained immediately.

The prime minister was stripped of immunity too

That same day, parliament also stripped Prime Minister Magyar himself of his immunity — at his own request. This could reopen the investigation into a 2024 incident in which he threw a stranger's mobile phone into the Danube: the altercation took place in a nightclub, where a stranger was filming Magyar on video, and the prime minister responded by grabbing the phone and throwing it into the river.

After his immunity was lifted, Magyar stressed that everyone is equal before the law — “a factory worker, a member of parliament or a prime minister.” “Today, Viktor Orbán's former corrupt ministers could have learned that lesson too. Those who have nothing to hide have nothing to fear from justice,” he said.

Source: novinky.cz