Right-wing influencer István Szakács detained; Védvonal promises legal representation
Police took away the Győr-based right-wing influencer István Szakács on Tuesday morning. The pro-Fidesz Védvonal immediately issued a statement, promising the best lawyers to defend him.
István Szakács taken by police at six in the morning
Right-wing influencer István Szakács was taken into custody on Tuesday morning, according to reports by Index. The pro-Fidesz Védvonal issued a statement the same day: "following immediate action, we will ensure legal defence by the most outstanding lawyers for the right-wing influencer," the text reads.
Judit Czunyiné Bertalan, head of Védegylet, also commented: "Tiszás arbitrariness uses law enforcement as a political tool and wants to strike at everyone." The statement concludes that "the unnecessary and disproportionate restriction of the fundamental right to freedom of expression, when someone is prosecuted for expressing their political views," is problematic.
Circumstances of the detention
István Szakács posted two entries on his Facebook page about the event. The first merely stated: "arrested." His wife gave a more detailed account in a separate post, describing how seven police officers arrived at their home on Wednesday morning at six o'clock, conducted a search of the premises, and then took her husband away. "My husband has not committed any act of violence. He merely expressed his outrage," his wife recalled.
The post referred to a previously published video in which Szakács urged Péter Magyar not to "attempt" to have Viktor Orbán taken away with "his cronies." According to the Győr influencer's words, if this were to happen, "then five hundred thousand Hungarians will go and we will free him from anywhere, whoever stands against us."
The background of the gold convoy case
The direct precedent for this incident was the "gold convoy operation," during which on 5 March at the Alacska rest stop on the M0 motorway, the National Tax and Customs Administration detained 7 Ukrainian citizens – including a former intelligence service general – as well as 2 armoured cash transport vehicles that were transporting a total of 40 million dollars, 35 million euros and 9 kilograms of gold to Ukraine.
The assessment of the operation has since become disputed: according to some information, Viktor Orbán himself may have decided on its timing and necessity. The lawyer for the Ukrainian money transporters, Lóránt Horváth, proposed at the end of June – at the same time as suspicions were raised against Viktor Orbán, Örs Farkas, János Hajdu and Tamás Demeter – that his own clients be taken into custody and remanded in custody.
Source: Index