Orban must be held accountable for raid on Oschadbank cash-in-transit guards – Magyar

Magyar calls for Orban to answer over Oschadbank case

Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Magyar has commented on an investigation by Hungarian media into the role of former Prime Minister Viktor Orban in an operation to detain Ukrainian cash-in-transit guards and seize Oschadbank assets in March this year.

Magyar published the statement on Facebook, Censor.NET reports.

Magyar believes Orban must be held accountable

Magyar accused his predecessor of abuse of power and said he must take responsibility.

"Viktor Orban personally directed the work of law enforcement agencies and special services. He alone could make decisions on carrying out raids or delaying investigations. He must take responsibility," the Hungarian prime minister wrote.

Investigation by Hungarian media

It was reported earlier that investigative journalists from the Hungarian outlet Telex claim that the order to detain Ukrainian cash couriers and seize Oschadbank funds near Budapest on 5 March was issued by Viktor Orban, Hungary’s then prime minister.

Background

On March 6, Hungary’s tax authority confirmed the detention of seven Ukrainian nationals.
The NBU team urgently travelled to Budapest over the detention of the cash-in-transit personnel.
Ukraine’s National Police opened criminal proceedings.
The Hungarian government said that the seven Ukrainian cash-in-transit personnel would be deported.
On the evening of March 6, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha reported the release of the seven Ukrainian cash-in-transit personnel detained in Hungary.
Máté Kocsis, leader of the parliamentary group of Hungary’s ruling Fidesz party, submitted a bill providing for the seizure until the end of the investigation of the cash and valuables of Ukraine’s Oschadbank captured in Hungary.
Hungarian Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said that the situation involving the seizure of the currency and gold transported by Oschadbank cash-in-transit personnel was a matter of national security for the country. Budapest also suggests a possible link between these funds and interference in the Hungarian elections.
It was reported on March 12 that Oschadbank had recovered the cash-in-transit vehicles previously detained in Hungary, but the cash and bank gold they had been transporting remain detained.
According to The Guardian, Hungarian counter-terrorism police agents may have forcibly injected one of the Oschadbank cash-in-transit personnel detained on the night of March 6. It was a sedative that made a person more talkative during interrogations.