Two former ministers from Viktor Orbán's governments have been detained in Hungary in separate investigations for alleged corruption. They are Miklós Szeszák, a former minister of national development, and Balazs Hankó, who until this year headed the Ministry of Culture and Innovation.
The Hungarian parliament lifted the immunity of the two on September 28 with 139 votes “in favor“, no votes “against“ and “abstentions“. The decision allowed the prosecutor's office to take action against them. Prime Minister Péter Magyar's immunity was also lifted in a separate case related to an alleged phone seizure, but the three proceedings have not been merged.
Sešták detained at the prosecutor's office
Sešták voluntarily appeared at the Central Investigative Prosecutor's Office to give evidence and was detained there. The information was confirmed by his lawyer Gábor Papp. The former minister, who is an MP from the Christian Democratic People's Party, denies having committed a crime.
The prosecutor's office suspects him of receiving bribes worth hundreds of millions and billions of forints during his term of office between 2014 and 2018. The investigation is related to public procurement and the management of state assets, including the case of the bus company “Volanbus“. According to previously released data, suspicions of overpriced deliveries of more than 600 buses and possible damages of about 10 billion forints are being investigated in this case.
Hanko is being investigated for funds from the cultural fund
Balaš Hanko was detained after appearing at the prosecutor's office, reported the TV channel “Hir TV“. According to the media, his former state secretary Veronika Varga-Bajuš was also taken with him. The prosecutor's office did not provide details about the specific procedural actions.
The investigation against Hanko is related to the National Cultural Fund, of which he was the chairman. According to the prosecutor's office, in 1,079 decisions, funds from the fund were used for purposes other than those intended, with the alleged financial damage to the budget amounting to 17.3 billion forints, or about 44 million euros.
Hanko rejects the suspicions and describes the proceedings as a "politically motivated case". Representatives of the "Fidesz" party and its coalition partner KDNP said they did not recognize the procedure and boycotted the parliamentary session at which the lifting of immunity was voted on.
Following the detentions, the prosecutor's office must decide whether to request a permanent detention order or another form of restriction. Until a final court ruling, the two remain suspects, not convicted.
Sources: Telex, 24 Chasa, Hir TV