The government of Peter Magyar is trying to establish a one-party system, the former prime minister has said
Former Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban has claimed the detention of his younger brother is part of a campaign by the government of Peter Magyar to eliminate political opposition in the country.
Aron Orban and three other people were arrested on Monday in a human trafficking case. The 49-year-old businessman, who owns the firearms company Multi Shot, was photographed arriving at a detention center in Budapest on the same day.
In September, reports emerged that the former prime minister’s sibling was part of a separate investigation into alleged falsification of paperwork to help Vietnamese workers enter Hungary.
In a post on X later on Monday, Viktor Orban, who left office after 16 years in power this May, accused Magyar’s government of going on a “witch hunt.”
“I am the real target. My younger brother is simply being used to get to me,” he insisted.
According to the former prime minister, the aim of the “dirty political game” played by the authorities is “to eliminate opponents and establish a one-party state.”
Orban also suggested that his brother’s detention was an attempt “to divert attention” from the scandal that erupted after Magyar’s government released the records from Hungary’s communist-era secret police last week.
Critics warned that the move could lead to public shaming, reputational damage, and painful family revelations. The historians stressed that the files, containing 50,000 to 60,000 names, were incomplete and unreliable, adding that being mentioned in them doesn’t necessarily serve as proof of collaboration with the agency.
After the pro-EU Tisza party’s election win, Magyar promised accountability for Orban-era politicians over alleged corruption and abuse of power.
Orban’s Fidesz party hosts “a list of political prisoners” on its website, which includes the names of its members who have been arrested since the change of leadership. On Tuesday, Aron Orban’s name became the sixth to be added to the list.
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Magyar’s cabinet has been actively dismantling the legal, media, and financial structures set up by the previous government. It also changed the constitution to impose a 12-year term limit on MPs, effectively banning Orban from running for office again. Fidesz has repeatedly labeled the conduct by its Tisza rivals as “authoritarian.”
