The prosecutor’s office has ordered an investigation based on a complaint by the Minister of Justice, Judit Varga, the Metropolitan Prosecutor’s Office said. According to the prosecutor’s office, Varga filed a complaint against an unknown perpetrator for defamation in public.
A blog and a Facebook site called The Devil’s Advocate (Az ördög ügyvédje in Hungarian) is famous for revealing or promising to reveal compromising information about Fidesz politicians. For example, in 2019, it leaked a sex video of then Fidesz mayor of Győr, Zsolt Borkai, which later resulted in his resignation.
Now, after Facebook posts regarding Judit Varga, the Justice Minister filed a complaint. The posts promised to reveal Varga’s sexual orientation hidden before the public and “her role in the Völner corruption case.” The site also promised to share evidence later but so far has not done so.
The substance of Varga’s accusation is that on December 27, 2021, an unknown perpetrator posted false statements on the social networking site “The Devil’s Advocate” about her sexual orientation and that she was directly involved in a corruption case. The Budapest I. and XII. district prosecutor’s office took over representing the prosecution and ordered the Budapest Police Headquarters to carry out the investigation on suspicion of public defamation.
The Minister of Justice wrote in a Facebook post that “the left is in so much trouble that neither Christmas, nor families, nor women are any obstacle when it comes to smearing or defaming. All the allegations about me on The Devil’s Advocate Facebook page are untrue.”
The author of the blog and its Facebook page is unknown. In 2021, the police have accused lawyer and Democratic Coalition MP candidate, Csaba Czeglédy, of being behind the publication of the stories and recordings that led to Borkai’s resignation. He, however, denied the accusation.
Featured image via Szilárd Koszticsák/MTI
