BUDAPEST, July 21 (Reuters) – Hungary’s main opposition Fidesz party said prosecutors had raided offices housing its internet servers on Tuesday, and it accused the new centre-right government of seeking to shut down its operations.
Prosecutors and the ruling Tisza party did not immediately respond to emailed requests for comment. Prime Minister Peter Magyar said in a statement on Facebook that he was “looking forward to information from the prosecutor’s office”.
Magyar ousted Viktor Orban’s Fidesz in April in a landslide election win, ending the nationalist party’s 16-year rule. Magyar vowed to restore democratic standards in Hungary, which had been in frequent conflict with the European Union over issues such as the rule of law, corruption and minority rights.
However, since losing power Fidesz has accused Tisza of authoritarian policies.
“Prosecution investigators have arrived without prior notice at the centre that hosts the Fidesz party’s servers with the intention of seizing the party’s entire communications system and databases,” Fidesz wrote on Facebook.
“There has been no precedent for this in Hungary since 1990, the end of communism,” it said, adding that it would “stand up against the Tisza Party’s aggressive tyranny”.
Tisza denies taking an authoritarian stance towards political opponents. It has pledged to curb corruption, which it says was rampant under Orban’s administration, part of Tisza’s drive to bring Hungary back into the EU mainstream.
Orban has denied the corruption allegations.
The Fidesz statement did not say where the raid took place but prosecutors in the southern town of Bacs-Kiskun told news site 24.hu that the action was linked to an investigation about “misappropriation and other criminal offences” at the National Culture Fund (NKA).
They released no other details.
Earlier this year authorities launched criminal proceedings against several current and former officials over NKA grant decisions worth more than 17 billion forints ($53.91 million). Those involved denied wrongdoing.
Criminal proceedings started after allegations that the NKA channelled billions of forints in state grants to artists and organisations with ties to Fidesz through a non-transparent allocation process.
($1 = 315.3400 forints)
(Reporting by Anita Komuves and Krisztina ThanEditing by Gareth Jones)
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