A Hungarian man detained by anti-terrorist police on suspicion of plotting to carry out mass killings has no connections with terror groups and is in fact a World War II hobbyist, a court has said.
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Zsolt Molnar, chairman of Parliament’s national security committee, said after a closed hearing with Janos Hajdu, director of Hungary’s Counterterrorism Center, that the suspects were radicals with a confused ideology.
The four men were detained after old weapons explosives were found in their vehicle during spot-checks by Hungary’s anti-terrorist police following the 13 November Paris attacks.
The Counterterrorism Center stated safety can be increased for Hungary’s president, prime minister & different top officers.
All four, however, remain under investigation for unlicensed possession of equipment capable of making explosives.
The suspect had no criminal record and was not plotting to kill anyone, the court said. He also said police had found two other people with submachine guns, ammunition and silencers in their auto, but again provided no further details. Hajdu declined to disclose the suspects identities, nationalities or presumed motives but said the case had an worldwide dimension, Reuters reported.
Two Hungarians and two ethnic Hungarians from Slovakia were detained Saturday near Budapest after explosives were found in their vehicle, but a court rejected a request to keep one of them, identified only as Roland S., in custody.
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M1 said two of the suspects had been formally placed under arrest, and a court would decide on the others on Wednesday.
