Police.hu said that 17 of the detainees had been on a wanted list for crimes committed earlier, while eight were detained for drug abuse, three for rowdy behaviour, and one for theft.

The police also fined or filed criminal complaints against 12 others for drinking alcohol in a public area or violating sanitary regulations, the website said.

The police increased their presence around the station a week ago, responding to complaints from the area, the website said, adding that the station was now patrolled 24/7.

The police also said that Budapest's municipal services completed a major cleaning operation around the station, at tram stops, and in underpasses of the area earlier on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Court orders arrest of several politicians in 'Obuda corruption case'

A Budapest district court on Thursday ordered the arrest of several suspects believed to have regularly received bribes totalling 2 billion forints (EUR 7m) from a gardening contractor that maintains public parks in several Budapest districts.

The Central District Court of Buda ordered the month-long detention of Gergely Orsi, the mayor of the 2nd district, Zsolt Lang, his predecessor, Zsolt Molnar, a former Socialist MP, Peter Puskas, a local Fidesz leader, and Tunde Szkaliczki and Karoly Matisz, both Momentum politicians in connection with the "Obuda corruption scandal", a spokesperson for the Central Investigative Prosecutor's Office said in a statement.

Fully 32 people have been questioned as suspects, while the authorities searched several sites, and seized cash and valuables worth tens of millions of forints.

The businessman is suspected of first having bribed Puskas, then deputy mayor in the third district, which he is thought to have shared 70-30 percent with municipal representative Gergo Czegledy "in the interest of a smooth cooperation between opposing political sides". 

Once the political composition of the local government changed, they reversed the ratio: Puskas and Czegledy bribed Szkaliczki to stop her from criticising the contractor. The contractor also paid bribes to Matisz to buy favours from other Momentum politicians.

The contractor is believed to have regularly bribed Lang and then Orsi, as well as Molnar "to use his authority" over local representatives delegated by his Socialist Party.

The suspects have appealed against the arrest warrant.

Momentum said on Facebook that the party has suspended the membership of Szkaliczki and Matisz. The party condemns corruption and supports a professional and impartial investigation, they said.

Magyar: Police, prosecutors 'could start working on HUF 2bn corruption case after regime change'

"How interesting: Shortly after the regime change, the police and the Public Prosecutor's Office could immediately start to work on a nearly 2 billion forint corruption case that has been dragging on for ten years," Prime Minister Peter Magyar said on Facebook on Thursday.

Magyar was commenting on charges brought against politicians in the so-called Obuda case, a sprawling corruption case spanning several Budapest districts.

The investigative office of the Public Prosecutor's Office said earlier on Thursday that they have searched several premises and seized assets worth tens of millions of forints, and heard 32 people as suspects in the case on Tuesday.

The authorities are suspecting the head of a company contracted by several municipalities to perform park maintenance tasks of having bribed several politicians of various party affiliations and in various municipal cycles, to the tune of over 2 billion forints (EUR 5.6m).

MTI Stock Photo

Source: MTI – Hungary’s national news agency since 1881. While MTI articles are usually factual, some may contain political bias, and readers should be aware that such content does not reflect the position of XpatLoop, which is neutral and independent.

Since the goal of XpatLoop is to keep readers well briefed, right across the spectrum of opinions, MTI items are shared to ensure readers are aware of all narratives within the local media.

XpatLoop believes in empowering readers to form their own views through complete and comprehensive coverage. To facilitate this XpatLoop has a balanced range of news partners, as you can see when you surf around XpatLoop.com

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