Hungarian justice authorities have placed Viktor Orbán’s brother in pretrial detention in a human trafficking case

Hungarian justice authorities ordered on Wednesday the pretrial detention for 30 days of Áron Orbán, the brother of former nationalist Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, in a case in which he is suspected of human trafficking. Another suspect was given the same measure, according to the Budapest Tribunal. The decision can be appealed.

Áron Orbán and three other people were detained on Monday, following a joint operation carried out by the National Bureau of Investigation and the National Agency for the Recovery and Protection of Assets, an anti-corruption body established by the government led by Péter Magyar.

Investigators claim that the four acted as part of a criminal organization and that, in 2024, they helped more than 100 Vietnamese citizens obtain visas. The suspects are accused of charging them a recruitment fee, which they allegedly appropriated. The Tribunal considered the suspicions sufficiently substantiated.

The prosecution had requested the pretrial detention of all four, citing the risk of flight and obstruction of the investigation. The judges found these risks to apply in the case of the three suspects targeted by coercive measures. Áron Orbán and the other detained suspect could influence future testimony, according to the court. A third suspect was placed under judicial supervision for four months, while the fourth was released.

Viktor Orbán argued that the case represents an attempt by the Magyar government to eliminate its political opponents. “I am the target; my brother is merely a tool,” the former prime minister wrote on Facebook.