Prosecutor’s Office Raids Fidesz Office as Party Alleges Tyranny Reaches New Level

Prosecutors unannounced searched a building housing Fidesz servers and seized party assets on Tuesday, July 21, amid an investigation into the National Cultural Fund.

Unannounced Raid on Fidesz Servers

“Tyranny has reached a new level today. Prosecutors appeared unannounced at the building serving Fidesz servers with the intention of taking over the entire communication system and party databases,” reads a post published by Fidesz on Facebook on Tuesday, July 21. “Something like this has not happened in Hungary since the fall of communism in 1990.”

“The plan of Tisza (the party of Prime Minister Péter Magyar – ed.) to eliminate Fidesz and along with it the resistance to tyranny by political means has failed. Therefore, TISZA is trying to lead to the actual blocking of Fidesz. Fidesz will not submit to political or legal threats, will not yield and will oppose the brutal tyranny of Tisza,” party representatives declared.

Seizure of Party Property and Official Statements

The prosecutor’s office seized property belonging to Fidesz. “According to Fidesz information, investigators searched Viktor Orbán’s party servers today and seized them. We are waiting for a statement from the prosecutor’s office!” wrote Péter Magyar on Facebook. Investigators told the media that they searched the Fidesz office and seized party property in connection with an investigation conducted by the prosecutor’s office from Bács-Kiskun.

Prosecutor’s spokeswoman Marianna Bodó told the 24.hu portal that the case concerns embezzlement and other crimes. She reported that it involves the affair surrounding the National Cultural Fund, though she declined to provide details of the case.

Detention of Former Vice-President of the National Cultural Fund

In April, information emerged that funds at the disposal of the National Cultural Fund were distributed to people associated with Fidesz. As part of this procedure, up to several billion forints reportedly reached them. In June, Balázs Bús, the former vice-president of the National Cultural Fund who was a Fidesz activist, was detained in this case.