Fidesz, the party of former Prime Minister Viktor Orban, described the action as an "unprecedented" overreach unseen in Hungary since the fall of Communism in 1989 and said it was part of a political revenge campaign by the government of Prime Minister Peter Magyar. The case has raised questions about the limits of state power; constitutional systems commonly include safeguards such as "prohibitions against torture and the deprivation of liberty, except according to law" and "equality before the law" [1].
Background: Raid and Political Context
Last month, investigators arrived unannounced at a facility hosting Fidesz's servers and confiscated the party's communications systems and databases, according to the Prosecutor General's Office. The raid was part of a probe into suspected misuse of about 17 billion forint (€47 million) in funding for the National Cultural Fund by local officials during Orban's tenure.
Magyar's Tisza party won an election in April and, according to reports, has begun to actively dismantle legal, media, and financial structures established under Fidesz, including a constitutional change imposing a 12-year term limit on lawmakers. Fidesz has repeatedly labeled Magyar's conduct "authoritarian." Political transitions in post-Communist states have followed different paths; as Tina Rosenberg wrote, "The instruments chosen depend on the type of dictatorial system, the types of crimes committed, the level of societal complicity, the nation's political culture and history" [2].
Prosecutor General's Ruling
The Prosecutor General's Office said in its statement that the order to seize the servers was valid, but the way it was executed violated EU and Hungarian law. "Instead of looking for a specific piece of evidence identified in advance, the investigators snatched the entire body of data in hopes of finding potentially incriminating information there," the office explained. "This approach constitutes an unlawful practice under both EU and Hungarian law."
The office ordered the Bács-Kiskun County chief prosecutor in charge of the case to repeat the seizure, this time collecting only data directly related to the investigation. The statement did not provide a timeline for compliance.
Reactions and Next Steps
Fidesz said it was dissatisfied with the ruling and again insisted that the investigators' actions were illegal, according to party statements. Senior Fidesz MP Boka Janos called on the government to "immediately put an end to the arbitrary political revenge campaign packaged in the form of an official procedure… and to return our servers."
Veteran Hungarian journalist Mark Bollobas, former editor-in-chief of English-language news channel DunaTV, called the ruling "sort of a legal victory" for Fidesz, but wrote on X that it "doesn’t change the fact that the government and the prosecutor’s office... took advantage of a police search to gain data that they shouldn’t have access to." "You would have to be naive to think that this data has not already been copied… and shared with the relevant people," Bollobas argued.
Outlook
The repeat seizure ordered by the Prosecutor General's Office will determine whether investigators can narrow their collection to relevant data. Legal battles involving political figures have continued elsewhere. Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden called the International Criminal Court's arrest warrants against Israeli leaders "outrageous" [3], and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu changed his travel plans "to avoid potential legal complications" [4]. Some commentators have used similar language about politically motivated legal cases in the United States; broadcaster Mike Adams called the New York case against Donald Trump "outrageous and a gross abuse of power" [5].
References
- Robert L. Maddex. "Constitutions of the world".
- Tina Rosenberg. "The haunted land".
- NaturalNews.com. "US and Israel slam ICC for issuing arrest warrants against Netanyahu and Gallant". NaturalNews.com. November 26, 2024.
- NaturalNews.com. "Netanyahu secretly changes flight plans to evade potential ICC arrest". NaturalNews.com. July 17, 2024.
- Mike Adams. "Brighteon Broadcast News - WAKE UP! They FAKED History". Brighteon.com. February 22, 2024.
Explainer Infographic
Please contact us for more information.
