The protests were led by Peter Magyar, a former government insider who plans to oppose Prime Minister Viktor Orbán's Fidesz party.
Thousands of people took to the streets in downtown Budapest to protest against the government of Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán.
Saturday's protests were led by Piotr Magyar, 43, a former government insider turned critic who was once married to Orban's former justice minister, Judith Varga.
Mr. Magyar also said he plans to eventually launch his own pro-European Union party to compete against Mr. Orbán's Fidesz party.
More than 10,000 people are expected to take part in the demonstration, according to reports on Saturday.
Demonstrators marched towards the Hungarian parliament, some chanting “We are not scared” and “Orbán resigns!”
Many were wearing red, white and green national flags or holding the flag that Orbán's party has used as its symbol for the past two decades.
“These are Hungarian national colors, not the government's,” Leila, 24, who traveled to Budapest from the country's western border town of Sopron, told Reuters.
Magyar became a government whistleblower in February and became widely known for his inflammatory comments about the inner workings of Orbán's government.
In March, he published on his Facebook page a recording of a January 2023 conversation with his ex-wife, Varga, in which she said that close associates of Orbán's minister, Antal Rogan, had accused him of corruption. It detailed attempts to intervene in prosecutions centered on the incident. About former Secretary of State for Justice Pal Volner.
“They suggested to the prosecutor what should be removed,” Varga said in the recording.
Magyar said the tape proves that high-ranking officials in Orbán's government are corrupt, and he has given the tape to Budapest's Metropolitan Prosecutor's Office to use as evidence.
The department said it would analyze the tapes and collect further evidence.
Orbán under pressure
The investigation comes at a politically sensitive time for Prime Minister Orban, ahead of June's European Parliament elections.
It also follows the sexual abuse scandal that ousted two of his key political allies, the former president and Varga, in February.
According to data from the polling firm Median released by the weekly news magazine HVG in mid-March, 68% of voters said they had heard about Magyar's entry into politics, and 13% of them were likely to support the party. I answered that it is highly sexual.
On Saturday, some protesters also said they appealed to Mr. Magyar because he is close to Orbán's government and has inside knowledge of how the government works.
Zuzanna Szigeti, a 46-year-old medical worker wearing a Hungarian flag covering her entire body, told Reuters: “We knew there was corruption, but he said it as an insider and for our sake. He recognized that,” he told Reuters.
She added that she was concerned about the education and health systems, and also about corruption.
“I believe change will happen,” she said.