Key facts
- A lawyer claims former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán should have been detained over a cash convoy raid.
- Seven Ukrainians were detained following the raid on a convoy carrying cash and gold from Vienna to Kyiv.
- The lawyer alleges Orbán and three other officials made strategic decisions behind the operation.
- János Hajdu, former director of Hungary's anti-terrorism unit, is suspected of unlawful detention.
- The lawyer suggests the chief prosecutor, appointed under Orbán's government, may be biased.
A lawyer representing seven Ukrainians detained in Hungary after a police raid on a cash convoy has stated that former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán and three other officials should have been investigated and detained for their alleged roles in the operation. The lawyer, Lóránt Horváth, suggested that prosecutors might be shielding Orbán from the investigation.
In early March, two vans carrying a significant amount of cash and gold en route to Oschadbank's headquarters in Kyiv were stopped near Budapest. The crew was detained, interrogated, and subsequently expelled from Hungary, with the valuables confiscated. Recently, Hungarian prosecutors questioned János Hajdu, the former director of the anti-terrorism unit TEK, who is suspected of issuing orders that led to the allegedly unlawful detention of the Ukrainians. Hajdu was not detained following his interrogation.
Horváth, representing Oschadbank and the seven detained Ukrainians, argued that all individuals involved in the operation should have been taken into custody. A leaked document from the prosecutor's office identified Orbán, former secretary of state Örs Farkas, former NAV vice-president Tamás Demeter, and former TEK chief János Hajdu as being involved in the decision-making process behind the raid. Horváth expressed concern that Hajdu might not incriminate his former superiors, reinforcing his belief that the prosecution aims to exclude Orbán from the case.
Hajdu faces charges of unlawful detention, torture, and malicious intent, with potential prison sentences ranging from two to eight years, and more serious charges, including terrorism, have not been ruled out. The raid occurred during the Hungarian election campaign, a period when Orbán's Fidesz party characterized Ukraine as a threat. Horváth believes the raid had political implications and questioned the impartiality of the chief prosecutor, Gábor Bálint Nagy, who was appointed during Orbán's tenure, suggesting he might be providing political support to former government officials. Magyar's government has called for the chief prosecutor's resignation.