Hungary has detained the brother of former Prime Minister Viktor Orban during its investigation of a people-smuggling case, Prime Minister Peter Magyar confirmed during a speech in Berlin.
“In this dirty game, the aim is the elimination of the political opponent and the establishment of a one-party system. I am the target, my younger brother is just a tool,” the former prime minister wrote. In Monday’s statement, the National Asset Protection and Recovery Office did not identify the suspects detained and police also declined to do so in an emailed response to Reuters.
Monday’s statement had said the four detained were suspected of helping Vietnamese citizens reach Western Europe for several months in 2024.
Monday’s comments came after the Hungarian anti-graft body, said in a statement it and police had detained four people and searched homes at several sites in Budapest and Pest county as part of the case. “Three out of the ex-ministers of Orban are already in custody,” Magyar said on the sidelines of a speech in the German capital. “Already his brother today went to custody,” he added, referring to the former prime minister’s sibling, businessman Aron Orban, 49. It was established by Magyar, who ousted Orban in an April election, and is central to his government’s anti-graft campaign which he has dubbed “Operation Purgatory”.
