“Shocking. Péter Magyar has now done it. He has been blackmailing me with that for a year,” Varga said, noting that Magyar had secretly recorded the conversation between them when she was justice minister.

Magyar alleges that the contents of the recording provide evidence of government wrongdoing.

“And now he has used it for political purposes,” Varga said. “A person like that is not worthy of any kind of trust,” she added. Varga also said she had given him “a number of chances to start over during the terrible years of domestic violence”.

Referring to an interview to camera that Magyar gave which was streamed online on Monday, Varga said: “I was just watching that cruel face … and I was chilled to the bone; he lies and manipulates, and it brings back everything I had to endure over the past 16 years.”

She added that she could recall “plenty of examples of verbal and physical violence”. Varga recalled one evening when she had gone to bed her husband came home in a drunken state and threw books and clothing at her.

“I felt the buckle of his belt hitting my back. I tried to crouch smaller and waited for the next blow; I was afraid that it would hit my spine, but I didn’t dare move.”

“At that time I decided that I would divorce him,” she said, adding that when she told him, “he begged me and made promises as he had done so many time for 16 years… He used all the old tricks and methods through which he had always managed to put me back on the rollercoaster of domestic violence … but this time I was determined to find a way out.”

She said Magyar had started threatening her when she insisted on a divorce. “This was the context for this footage… He was preparing to blackmail me. He was provoking me by reading out gossip from the press.”

“Since he had been terrorising me for days, I told him what he wanted to hear so that I could get away as soon as possible… In a state of intimidation people say things they do not mean,” the former minister added.

Varga said she was “proud” of having been the justice minister of the government led by Viktor Orbán and of being a member of the ruling Fidesz party. She said that according to Magyar she was being discredited in the press.

“I see it differently. Former colleagues and close friends tell us who he really is. Péter Magyar has caused much pain not only to his own family but also to his friends… Now having to watch this vile manipulation causes renewed pain for many,” she wrote.

The Central Investigation Prosecutor’s Office (KNYF) said in the afternoon that Magyar had been heard again as a witness by the Metropolitan Investigation Prosecutor’s Office in an ongoing criminal case. Prior to the interview, Magyar made public a recording of a private conversation he had with his ex-wife.

The office acknowledged as correct a statement in the recording that Chief Public Prosecutor Péter Polt did not lord over the prosecutor’s office.

“The chief public prosecutor heads and manages Hungary’s public prosecutor’s office where the rule of law is in force,” it added.

The prosecutor’s office will analyse, assess and further verify all statements made in the recording and during the testimony by Magyar, it said in a statement. “It must be pointed out again that the disappearance or revision of documents at the prosecutor’s office is not just legally, but also physically, impossible” the statement said.

“All data processed at the office is documented from the time of receipt and is not stored in a single location, but appear in the databases of other organisations, including those of investigating judges and authorities involved in covert operations,” it added.

“The history of all the documents pertaining to the so-called Völner-Schadl case is known and all of the activities revealed from the available data have been or are being investigated, in line with the law,” it said.

The authority said it would provide further details at a press conference on March 28.

Gulyás on Magyar: 'The Balloon Has Burst'

Gergely Gulyás, the head of the prime minister’s office, responding to allegations made by one-time government insider, Péter Magyar, who has turned against the Fidesz-led administration, dismissed Magyar as “the new Márki-Zay”, the one-time prime ministerial candidate of the joint opposition.

“The only difference is that Péter Márki-Zay did not terrorise his wife,” Gulyás said in a Facebook post.

“Much ado about nothing,” he wrote, adding that “the balloon has burst!”

“A family dispute involving an intimidated wife doesn’t have a bearing on public life,” he added.

Knyf: ‘No Documents Disappeared in So-Called völner-Schadl Case'

All the documents pertaining to the so-called Völner-Schadl case are available, as well as evidence not included in the indictment, and “none have disappeared”, the head of the Central Investigation Prosecutor’s Office (KNYF) said on Thursday.

At a press conference, Pál Fürcht rejected accusations against the office that “facts” had been removed from the indictment.

The indictment contains all data the prosecutor’s office had deemed provable, the charges against the accused and the evidence supporting the facts, he added.

Proof not supporting the charges had also been filed, “all data can be followed up on,” he said.

The case concerns an investigation involving Pál Völner, a former state secretary of the justice ministry, and György Schadl, the former head of the Hungarian Chamber of Bailiffs.

Prosecutors allege that Schadl had regularly bribed Völner until July 2021 and used his influence to secure the appointment of bailiffs of his choosing in exchange for kickbacks.

Charges of corruption, property crimes and money laundering have been filed against a total of 22 people in the case. According to the indictment, Schadl paid Völner a total of at least 83 million forints (EUR 217,000) in bribes between May 2018 and July 2021, who then exercised his influence as state secretary and deputy minister in Schadl’s interest.

Fürcht said that former Justice Minister Judit Varga was heard as a witness by the Metropolitan Investigation Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday, declining to disclose details on an ongoing investigation.

He said that several separate investigations had been launched on connected matters, and were under way at other investigation authorities.

​​​​​​​He said he would not comment on the evidence submitted in the ongoing investigation but the authorities would provide information once the investigations are completed.

MTI Photo: Nándor Veres

Related link: telex.hu

*********************************
You're very welcome to comment, discuss and enjoy more stories, via our Facebook page: 
Facebook.com/XpatLoopNews + via XpatLoop’s groups: Budapest Expats / Expats Hungary

You can subscribe to our newsletter here:
XpatLoop.com/Newsletters

Do you want your business to reach tens of thousands of potential high-value expat customers?
Then just contact us here!