The ex-husband of Hungary's former justice minister Peter Magyar caused a new political upheaval in the country by publishing a conversation he had while still married to Judith Varga. Some documents should be deleted from the corruption case.
Magyar posted the post on his Facebook page on Tuesday, dated January 2023. The 43-year-old lawyer, who plans to launch a political party, addressed a rally in Budapest the same day following the revelations.
The case involving the recording alleges that Paul Wollner, the former secretary of state at the Ministry of Justice, and Georgy Schadl, the former head of the enforcement agencies, orchestrated a corruption scheme involving about 20 people. Both Völner and Schadl pleaded not guilty at trial, but some of the other defendants have pleaded guilty, with some claiming that Schadl helped their business in exchange for paying large sums of money.
In the recording, Varga said advisers to a prominent member of the government suggested to prosecutors what to redact from documents related to the case. “They were told what to remove, but they didn't do exactly what they were told,” the then-minister said, according to Reuters.
Judith Varga did not deny the recording, but attacked her ex-husband's credibility: “Peter Magyar made a secret recording of his ex-wife, me, in our home, and now he is using it to achieve his political goals,” she said. “He is not worthy of anyone's trust,” he declared.
Later, she said she was horrified to see Magyar refer to domestic violence and told her what she wanted to hear. This Wednesday, she gave an interview in which she envied her husband for holding a more important position than her.
Magyar emerged on the Hungarian political scene in February, when a scandal involving the pardon of a pedophile accomplice led to the resignation of then-President Katalin Novak and the announcement of Justice Minister Varga. Pardon time, who will be Orbán's party's candidate for the European elections?
Magyar (who is a diplomat and has held positions in public institutions) has made repeated criticisms of the need for change, claiming that the two women are being scapegoated for the continuation of the regime, the first challenge to Orbán from his own organization. .