Fidesz MP and former Hungarian Minister of Culture and Innovation, Hankó Balázs, was brought to the Kecskemét District Court on Thursday in handcuffs and under the supervision of authorities. The investigating judge is expected to decide whether he will be arrested as part of the criminal investigation related to the management of funds from the National Culture Fund.
Hungarian media report that Hankó was escorted to the court by officials from the National Tax and Customs Administration (NAV). Journalists who were in front of the hearing room were kept away by law enforcement.
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Asked by the media how he had felt during his time in detention, the former minister, standing with handcuffs on his hands, answered briefly: “I have declared everything.”
Hankó stayed for about 15 minutes inside the courtroom and then came out, returning again together with his defense lawyer for the continuation of the hearing.
According to investigators, during the period he held the post of culture minister, Hankó is suspected of having been directly involved in the decision-making and allocation of hundreds of grants from the National Culture Fund (NKA). These funds, instead of going to cultural projects, are believed to have been used for Fidesz’s election campaign or for the private interests of the beneficiaries.
The prosecution had requested the lifting of Hankó’s parliamentary immunity a week earlier. Hungary’s parliament approved the request on Monday, thus opening the way for criminal proceedings against him.
After the vote in parliament, Hankó spent several hours in his office inside the parliament building. Then, after receiving official notification, he presented himself at the NAV headquarters on Huszti Street.
Authorities formally arrested him and transferred him to Kecskemét, where he was questioned for about five hours as a suspect for abuse of office with particularly serious financial consequences.
The court’s decision is now expected to determine whether the former minister will remain in pre-trial detention until the conclusion of the investigation.
