After a brief recess and a hearing lasting about two hours, the judge of the Kecskemét District Court ruled on Thursday afternoon to remand Balázs Hankó into custody. The former Minister of Culture and Innovation is a suspect in the National Cultural Fund (NKA) case.
Under heavy guard, Balázs Hankó arrived at the Kecskemét District Court building around 10 a.m. from the detention center in Cegléd. Shortly thereafter, the preliminary hearing began, during which the judge decided which coercive measures should be ordered in the case of the former minister suspected in the NKA case.
After the hearing, the press spokesperson for the Chief Prosecutor’s Office announced that
the court had ordered Balázs Hankó to be detained for 30 days.
He had filed an appeal, which the court had taken note of. Criminal proceedings allow for the detention to be served at a police station, which in this case is taking place at the Cegléd police station. If necessary, the prosecutor’s office may file a motion to extend the detention by 30 days. Should the 60 days have elapsed and the detention need to be extended again, the former minister will be transferred to a correctional facility.
Péter Magyar responded to the news of the arrest on his Facebook page within minutes. In his post, the prime minister writes: “Another minister in Viktor Orbán’s government, Member of Parliament Balázs Hankó, has also been remanded in custody by the court. The allegation: embezzlement amounting to 17 billion HUF (46.11 million EUR), committed as part of a criminal organization.” “This stolen money was used to partially finance FIDESZ’s election campaign,” Magyar claimed,
thereby preempting the court’s decision even before the trial on the merits has even begun.
In an exclusive interview with Hír TV, Hankó stated that a politically motivated case is being brought against him, one that has two “main focal points.” He described one as a cultural-political struggle and the other as a cultural-political reckoning.
In connection with the proceedings, the FIDESZ politician also mentioned the “Polish model” and Donald Tusk, and questioned the detention of those involved in the case. Regarding the risk of a repeat offense, he said that those involved no longer held their former positions, and in response to the possibility of flight, he cited his own example. “I have made it clear that I am here and available,” he explained. The former minister also pointed out in the interview that
his colleagues had been threatened and that there were attempts to send him to prison.
The investigating judge of the Kecskemét District Court has ordered the arrest of another person suspected in the NKA case, the press spokesperson for the Bács-Kiskun County Chief Prosecutor’s Office announced on Thursday. According to press reports, the person in question is Veronika Varga-Bajusz, the former state secretary at the Ministry of Culture and Innovation, who was responsible for higher education, vocational training, and adult education, as well as youth affairs. An MTI correspondent saw her at the Kecskemét District Court as she was led away in handcuffs on a lead.
The handling of politically sensitive cases outside the capital, in Kecskemét, has raised questions about the choice of venue. While proceedings in Budapest might attract greater media attention, the reasons for assigning these cases to courts elsewhere have not been publicly established.