The lawyer representing seven Ukrainians detained in Hungary following a police raid on a cash convoy this spring has told Euronews that former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán should be investigated for his possible part in the raid – and that he should have been detained.
In early March, two vans carrying a large quantity of cash and gold bound for Oschadbank’s headquarters in Kyiv left Vienna, only to be stopped near the Hungarian capital shortly afterwards. The crew were detained, interrogated and expelled from Hungary, and the valuables were confiscated.
On Tuesday, Hungarian prosecutors questioned János Hajdu, the former director of Hungary’s anti-terrorism unit TEK, who is suspected of giving orders that led to the allegedly unlawful detention of the Ukrainians. Hajdu remained free after his interrogation.
Lawyer Lóránt Horváth, who represents Oschadbank and the seven detained Ukrainians, told Euronews that those involved in the operation should have been detained for their actions.
Last week, a leaked document from the prosecutor’s office, published by news site 444.hu, named four officials involved in the decision-making behind the police raid: Orbán, former secretary of state Örs Farkas, Tamás Demeter, the former vice-president of Hungary’s tax office NAV, and former TEK chief János Hajdu.
“It would not only have been important to detain János Hajdu, but also to suspect and detain the other three people, including Viktor Orbán,” Horváth said, adding that a small circle of people, including Orbán, had made strategic decisions over the raid on the cash carriers.
“They can influence witnesses, destroy papers, documents and evidence, and they can even escape. So I think it would have been justified to suspect these four people and take them into custody,” the lawyer said.
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Horváth said Hajdu is being charged with unlawful detention, torture and malicious intent, offences that carry a prison sentence of two to eight years. More serious charges, including terrorism, have not been ruled out.
Hajdu was appointed by Orbán as security chief of the Fidesz party the day after his interrogation, but after Fidesz lost the parliamentary elections, he was dismissed by incoming Prime Minister Péter Magyar.
“We now expect that János Hajdu will most likely not make an incriminating statement against his current and former boss. So I think this step by the prosecution strengthens the theory that they want to remove Viktor Orbán from this case,” Horváth said.
Hungarian media previously reported that orders for the raid may have come from the prime minister’s office, but prosecutors have denied any political involvement. In June, Orbán dismissed questions about his personal involvement at a press conference, saying: “Everything was done in accordance with the law.”
The raid took place at the height of the Hungarian election campaign, during which Orbán’s Fidesz party portrayed Ukraine as a threat, and Horváth said the raid had clear political import, adding that chief prosecutor Gábor Bálint Nagy, who was appointed under Orbán’s government, might be biased.
“The chief prosecutor supervising and directing this investigation was appointed by the previous government, so it is also possible that he is providing political support, or a safety net, to his former bosses in some way,” Horváth said.
Magyar’s government has repeatedly called for the chief prosecutor’s resignation.
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