Hungary to vote on prosecutor in anti-graft drive

Hungarian lawmakers are scheduled to vote Tuesday on a new prosecutor-general as Prime Minister Peter Magyar's government pursues investigations into alleged high-level corruption linked to former leader Viktor Orban and his allies.

President Andras Baka nominated Peter Fejes, a recently retired career prosecutor and former regional chief prosecutor, for the post. Magyar's Tisza party, which holds more than two-thirds of parliamentary seats, said it will approve him.

The vote follows criticism that public confidence in Hungary's prosecution service eroded during Orban's 16 years in power. Critics accused the highly centralised institution of shielding the former premier's inner circle from legal scrutiny.

Fejes told the conservative website Valasz Online that he wanted to rebuild trust, saying the focus should be on professionalism, timeliness and being free from politics.

Parliament rejected Baka's first nominee last month after reports linked the nominee's brother to the so-called "golden convoy" case, involving the seizure and later return of cash and gold from vehicles of a Ukrainian state-owned bank before April's parliamentary elections.

Three former ministers are in custody in separate alleged corruption cases, including former central bank governor Gyorgy Matolcsy. Orban has denounced two of the probes as politically motivated. Hungary's new top anti-graft official, Anna Unger, has warned that convictions could take many years.