Following testimony by Hungary’s former justice minister Judit Varga about threats from her ex-husband, Prime Minister Peter Magyar, two criminal complaints have been filed against the head of government on suspicion of extortion and domestic abuse.
One of the complaints was submitted to Hungary’s Central Investigative Prosecutor’s Office by Ilona Ékes, a former MP from the Fidesz party, European Pravda reports, citing Magyar Nemzet.
She said her complaint was based on media reports and on Judit Varga’s testimony, which the former minister gave this week to a parliamentary investigative committee examining abuses in the executive branch.
Ékes stated that in January 2023 Magyar secretly recorded a conversation with his wife in their shared home, without her knowledge or consent. From January 2023 to March 2024, he allegedly used the audio recording to blackmail her. In particular, Magyar reportedly repeatedly threatened to take the recording to law enforcement, have Varga imprisoned, or ruin her life if she did not halt the divorce or accept his terms for dividing property and determining where the children would live.
The complaint says that because of these threats Varga was forced to postpone the divorce and agree to unfavourable terms, causing her financial losses. The complainant described the prolonged pressure as psychological terror and coercive control within the marriage. She also pointed to Magyar’s legal education, which, in her view, underscores the deliberate nature of his actions and their danger to society.
Ékes urged prosecutors to open an investigation, obtain the audio recording and evidence of the threats, and examine the circumstances in which the file was created, any possible manipulation of it, and potential violations of personal non-property rights.
A similar complaint on suspicion of extortion and domestic abuse was also filed with the Budapest investigative prosecutor’s office by István Tényi Jr, a former member of the Fidesz party. He said the allegations voiced by Varga at the parliamentary hearings are so serious that they require verification and the opening of criminal proceedings.