Former TEK Chief Questioned as Suspect, Then Immediately Recruited to Fidesz
János Hajdu, the former head of the Counter-Terrorism Centre, was questioned as a suspect in the case of the unlawful detention of Ukrainian currency carriers, after which the Prime Minister appointed him to the party's security directorate.
Former TEK Chief Questioned as Suspect, Then Immediately Recruited to Fidesz
The Budapest Regional Investigating Prosecutor's Office announced on Monday that János Hajdu, the head of the Counter-Terrorism Centre (TEK) dismissed in May, was questioned as a suspect in the case of unlawful detention of Ukrainian currency carriers – according to Telex.
According to the prosecutor's office, seven counts of unlawful detention and torture were suspected against Hajdu. The former police general denied committing the offence, lodged a complaint against the charge, and gave a statement. He is defending himself whilst at liberty.
TEK staff detained seven Ukrainian citizens on 5 March and seized more than 27 billion forints' worth of gold and foreign currency from their transport vehicles. The valuables were being transported from the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank to Ukraine's Oschadbank, and according to both institutions, all necessary documentation was in place.
On the day of the suspect interrogation, Prime Minister Viktor Orbán responded on Facebook that the Tisza Party had initiated a political reckoning, and that the legal proceedings against Hajdu were initiated on the Prime Minister's orders. According to him, since the outbreak of war, thousands of billions of forints' worth of foreign currency and gold have passed through Hungary towards Ukraine and from there, with the involvement of Ukrainian secret services and soldiers. "Hungarian authorities put a stop to this and, with the participation of the TEK, seized a Ukrainian shipment. In any respectable country this would be rewarded with a decoration, but in Hungary it has led to harassment," he wrote.
The following day, the Fidesz communications director announced that Viktor Orbán, party leader, had appointed János Hajdu as the security director of Fidesz for an indefinite period. Bertalan Havasi emphasised that Hajdu has decades of professional experience and held this position for several years before 2010.
Source: Telex