Hungary's Supreme Prosecutor's Office: Fidesz server seizure not conducted according to regulations

Hungary's Supreme Prosecutor's Office has determined that the seizure of servers from the ruling Fidesz party's headquarters was not carried out in accordance with legal regulations, despite the initial search warrant being deemed lawful. The ruling comes after Fidesz filed multiple complaints regarding the procedure.

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According to the prosecution, the investigative body, by seizing the servers, had access not only to data relevant to the case of the National Cultural Fund (NKA), but also to other data.

The investigation, which concerns the allocation of 17 billion forints (approximately 62 million euros) from the National Cultural Fund, led investigators to Fidesz premises on July 21. According to the Supreme Prosecutor's Office, the investigators accessed not only data relevant to the case but also other information on the servers. This broad access potentially violated data protection laws, as it may have included personal data of individuals not involved in the criminal proceedings.

The Supreme Prosecutor's Office cited concerns about "fishing expeditions," a practice where investigators gain access to a wide range of data without specific justification, which is considered illegal under both European and Hungarian law. The office stated that entire data storage media cannot be seized solely based on the assertion that they might contain evidence of a crime, especially if the server operator or owner is not implicated.

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This method is considered illegal practice both in European and Hungarian law.

Consequently, the office has ordered the Chief Prosecutor's Office of Bács-Kiskun County to repeat the procedure. Investigators must now filter and seize only the data directly related to the ongoing investigation within a three-month deadline, ensuring compliance with regulations and protecting the privacy of uninvolved individuals.

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The Supreme Prosecutor's Office considers that during the procedure, so-called 'fishing expeditions' could have occurred, meaning that investigators did not have access only to potentially compromising data and information, but to the entire content on the media used for data storage.