‘Head of the mafia state’: Thousands of Hungarians demonstrated against Orban ‘Unbelievable’: this is how residents of Baltimore experienced the bridge collapse

Thousands of people demonstrated in Budapest on Tuesday evening against the government of right-wing populist Prime Minister Viktor Orban. The reason for this was allegations of bribery and corruption against members of the government.

Peter Magyar, former husband of Orban’s former Justice Minister Judit Varga, called for this. He described Orbán as “the head of the mafia state.” Magyar had previously published a secretly recorded private conversation with his then wife. This is intended to prove that Orban’s government tried to cover up the involvement of Antal Rogan, minister and head of Orban’s cabinet, in a corruption case.

The Public Prosecution Service has been investigating the corruption case since 2021. A state secretary at the Ministry of Justice, which was headed by Varga at the time, is said to have accepted large amounts of bribes. Varga was considered Orbán’s closest political companion. She was Minister of Justice until June 2023. She resigned to lead her party Fidesz’s list in the European elections. She resigned earlier this year following a pedophilia scandal.

Varga accused her ex-husband of provoking the compromising statements. (rbu/sda/dpa)