Government official: ‘Shocking’ Czeglédy’s immunity still in place

A justice ministry official has said the government was “astonished” that the National Election Committee has refused a court request to suspend the immunity of Csaba Czeglédy, a Democratic Coalition MEP candidate who has been investigated in connection with corruption.

In a letter to Péter Rádi, the election committee’s head, justice ministry state secretary Pál Völner said that never before in Hungary had there been a case in which the immunity of someone suspected of a public crime had not been lifted.

“This is unacceptable and complicates the work of law enforcement while allowing the suspect to get rid of evidence or escape from the country,”

he said, adding that it was unprecedented that “certain political circles” were trying to hamper the operation of the justice system.

He said the fact that immunity is not a fundamental right had been established by the Constitutional Court in 2018 in connection with Czeglédy.