Orban says Hungary graft probe is a pretext to seize Fidesz servers

Hungary's former prime minister Viktor Orban on Wednesday accused prosecutors of using a corruption investigation as a pretext to seize databases belonging to his Fidesz party.

Authorities have opened a probe into the state-run National Cultural Fund after Orban was ousted from power in April elections by pro-EU conservative challenger Peter Magyar.

Independent media outlets allege the fund acted as a state-run payment centre for Fidesz's inner circle and as a shadow campaign fund. Prosecutors suspect the fund's decision-making body issued 1,079 grants worth more than 17 billion forints, or $54 million, in violation of rules.

On Tuesday, prosecutors raided a data centre hosting Fidesz party servers as part of the investigation.

Speaking outside the party's headquarters on Wednesday, Orban said the case was meant to justify taking Fidesz's servers. He called the investigation a politically motivated legal proceeding intended to make Fidesz legally unviable, saying the party had survived its election defeat and was growing stronger.

Orban rejected a journalist's suggestion that investigators had the right to act. He said it was a problem if a political party's server was seized by the government of a rival political force.

Magyar's government has passed anti-corruption measures and introduced term limits into the constitution that bar Orban from running again. The government is also seeking to remove senior state officials whom Magyar describes as puppets, including former president Tamas Sulyok, who was forced out by a constitutional amendment on Sunday.

Fidesz has described Magyar's moves as autocratic. Late Tuesday, Orban published a declaration on Facebook calling Hungary's political system illegitimate and pledging to use peaceful means to oppose what he called authoritarianism.