Former Hungarian prime minister Viktor Orbán has slammed the government after authorities detained his younger brother for suspected human trafficking.
Áron Orbán is believed to have been taken into police custody on Monday as part of a probe to unearth suspected corruption and abuses of office committed by his elder brother’s far-right administration and associated business circles during his 16 years in power.
Several Orbán-era officials, including György Matolcsy, the former governor of the Central Bank, are already in police detention on suspicion of fraud and corruption crimes.
Hungary’s current Prime Minister Péter Magyar, who defeated Mr Orbán in a landslide election in April, has dubbed the efforts “Operation Cleansing Fire”.
On Monday, Hungarian police said they made arrests and carried out house searches in four separate locations in and around Budapest and had employed the assistance of Hungary's Counter-Terrorism Centre in the actions since the presence of firearms was expected at two of the scenes.
The arrest of four individuals was part of an ongoing joint investigation by the National Bureau of Investigation and the newly formed National Asset Recovery and Protection Office.
The investigation centres on the alleged use of political connections to arrange expedited work permits for foreign nationals in exchange for lucrative payments.
Police said the four individuals, who are all suspected of “human trafficking committed in a criminal conspiracy for financial gain”, had facilitated Hungarian residence permits for more than 100 Vietnamese nationals in 2024, most of whom had aimed to leave Hungary for countries in Western Europe.
One of the suspects is alleged to have also engaged in influence peddling in the acquisition of the residence permits.
While police did not release the names of the suspects and did not provide further details on their identities, Mr Orbán’s Fidesz party added Áron Orbán to a list of “political prisoners” on its website.
“The goal of this dirty game is to eliminate the political opponent and establish a one-party system,” the ex PM wrote on Facebook. “The target is me, and my brother is just a tool.”
In October, police detained Mr Matolcsy for suspected fraud and other crimes. Mr Matolcsy was one of Mr Orbán's closest economic allies and is suspected of misusing funds through a foundation set up in 2014 that was endowed with some $818 million (about £609 million) in public assets.
Matolcsy has denied wrongdoing and is still in custody, while an international arrest warrant for his son, Ádám, is still active.
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