A member of parliament from Hungary's ruling conservative-led coalition has been arrested after allegedly being caught red-handed receiving a bribe, the chief prosecutor's office said Friday, reported (AFP)
Zoltan Szekely of the Independent Smallholders' Party denied the charges, alleging he was set up.
Szekely was detained by police after receiving 20 million forints (75,000 euros, 65,600 dollars) in an attached case from a businessman in a Budapest hotel, reports said.
Chief Prosecutor Peter Polt has asked parliament to lift his immunity on suspicion of graft, a "precondition to starting a criminal procedure," Polt said in a statement.
Szekely, the head of a parliamentary commission controlling public acquisitions, denied the graft charges on public television Friday.
He said the businessman had promised him documents on a controversial public acquisition but the attached case he handed over contained money instead of documents.
"It was a setup," said 48-year-old Szekely, who was a football trainer before going into politics.
The Smallholders, junior partner in Prime Minister Viktor Orban's ruling coalition, summoned their parliamentary group for Friday to decide over the expulsion of Szekely from the faction.
"I am completely shocked," said Smallholder parliamentary group leader Attila Bank.
"It is intolerable that a Smallholder MP should be involved in such a case. ... There can only be one decision: we must expel him," Bank told state radio.
Opposition parties said this graft was unprecedented in Hungary's 10-year democratic history.
"If the graft is proved, the MP's immunity must be lifted and he must be handed over to justice. His own party should call him to return his mandate," said Laszlo Kovacs, the head of the main opposition Socialist Party.
Under Hungarian law, members of parliament can only be taken in custody if caught red-handed in a crime, and a criminal procedure can only be launched against them if parliament approves – (AFP)
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