Another big protest by Péter Magyar was organised against the government – UPDATED

Péter Magyar opposition Hungary corruption case
Photo: MTI

Péter Magyar, the husband of the former Justice Minister, now at the centre of attention, handed over the incriminating footage to the prosecution before calling for a demonstration tonight. A large number of people responded to the call.

As we detailed earlier this morning, footage emerged of the former minister alleging that members of the Hungarian government had interfered in a corruption case, falsifying documents. Full details can be found here.

At 6 p.m., Péter Magyar convened his followers. Approximately a thousand people gathered at the outset of the demonstration on Markó Street, facing the Prosecutor General’s Office. In his speech, Magyar emphasised that this wasn’t a partisan affair but a demonstration for the nation. He said that, following the airing of the tape, the courts had no choice but to summon ministers and eventually the prime minister. Magyar urged the crowd not to allow the authorities to sweep under the rug the most significant political and moral scandal of the past three decades.

How the protest by Péter Magyar unfolded?

The throng chanted “To prison, to prison!” as Péter Magyar called for the resignation of Attorney General Péter Polt. He then asked the crowd to demonstrate on Kossuth Square that “this nation belongs not to the Tiborczs, Rogáns and Polt Péters but to the Hungarian people.”

The crowd swelled to several thousand as they marched slowly towards Kossuth Square, led by a group of torchbearers. After filling most of the square, thousands more gathered to hear Péter Magyar’s address at Vértanúk Square.

“We’re well aware of what Viktor Orbán chooses to ignore.” Magyar highlighted the prime minister’s disregard for the rule of law, the Istanbul Pact, the nurses’ case as well as his apparent neglect of pardon cases and investigations by the prosecutor general.

“My dear friends, we wait in vain for an audio recording wherein the Prime Minister will tell us how his family came into possession of 300 billion forints of public money.”

The impromptu demonstration concluded at 7:30 p.m. By eight o’clock, Péter Magyar remained in Vértanúk Square, encircled by hundreds eager to talk to him.

Central Investigation Prosecutor’s Office reaction

The Central Investigation Prosecutor’s Office (KNYF) said in the afternoon that Magyar had been heard again as a witness by the Metropolitan Investigation Prosecutor’s Office in an ongoing criminal case.

Prior to the interview, Magyar made public a recording of a private conversation he had with his ex-wife.

The office acknowledged as correct a statement in the recording that Chief Public Prosecutor Peter Polt did not lord over the prosecutor’s office. “The chief public prosecutor heads and manages Hungary’s public prosecutor’s office where the rule of law is in force,” it added.

The prosecutor’s office will analyse, assess and further verify all statements made in the recording and during the testimony by Magyar, it said in a statement.

“It must be pointed out again that the disappearance or revision of documents at the prosecutor’s office is not just legally, but also physically, impossible” the statement said. “All data processed at the office is documented from the time of receipt and is not stored in a single location, but appear in the databases of other organisations, including those of investigating judges and authorities involved in covert operations,” it added.

Péter Magyar opposition Hungary
Photo: MTI

“The history of all the documents pertaining to the so-called Völner-Schadl case is known and all of the activities revealed from the available data have been or are being investigated, in line with the law,” it said.

The authority said it would provide further details at a press conference on March 28.

UPDATE: Magyar demands resignation of public prosecutor, government at demonstration – MTI

At a demonstration in central Budapest on Tuesday evening, Péter Magyar demanded the resignation of Chief Prosecutor Peter Polt and the government, and called for a truly independent investigation of a case referred to in a recording he secretly made in his home of a conversation with his ex-wife, the former justice minister.
Magyar had invited his followers to the demonstration after his hearing at the Chief Prosecutor’s Office earlier in the day. The demonstration started in the front of the office headquarters and then moved to nearby Vertanuk Square.

Magyar told the event that Hungary had sunk in the “deepest political, moral and legal crisis” since post-communist transformation as a result of the cover-up of paedophile crimes, a scandal involving a presidential pardon, and corrupt bailiffs and government members. He also said that the Chief Prosecutor’s Office should interview several government members and the prime minister in connection with the recording he had presented during his hearing.

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