PARIS—Belgian police have broken up an illegal lockdown orgy involving around 20 men including at least one foreign politician and several diplomats in a central Brussels bar, according to local reports.
Officers burst into the ground floor of a bar on Rue des Pierres in the Belgian capital on Friday night to discover alcohol, drugs, and what has been described as “a party of legs in the air,” Belgian newspaper La Dernière Heure (DH) reported, with a source claiming, “We interrupted a gang bang!”
One of the revelers was Jozsef Szajer, a Hungarian Member of the European Parliament (MEP) and a senior figure in Viktor Orbán’s ruling far-right Fidesz party until he resigned on Sunday. He tried to escape through a window and along the gutter but injured himself and was then confronted by police reinforcements that had just arrived. Some reports claimed the politician tried to invoke a parliamentary right to immunity but European Parliament regulations state that members can be subject to “inquiry, detention or legal proceedings” if they are “found in the act of committing an offense.”
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Amid mounting speculation over the hitherto unnamed MEP, Szajer wrote a blog post on his personal website on Tuesday admitting to breaking Belgium's lockdown rules by attending the party. “I was present,” said Szajer, a founder of Fidesz, known for its anti-LGBTQ stance, and party leader in the Hungarian Parliament from 1994 to 2002. “After the police asked for my identity–since I did not have ID on me–I declared that I was an MEP.”
Szajer went on to claim he did not take any drugs and that he had “no knowledge” of the ecstasy pills found on the scene, adding, “I apologize to my family, to my colleagues, and to my voters.”
The 59-year-old submitted his resignation on Sunday to the European Parliament, before the revelations emerged, saying at the time that his decision marked the end of a “long period of reflection.” Szajer, who is married, has played a key role in what critics say is Hungary’s anti-LGBTQ stance. He was one of three politicians in 2011 who rewrote the Hungarian constitution to define “the institution of marriage as between a man and a woman” and banning adoption for same-sex couples.
Brussels’ prosecutor's office told The Daily Beast in an emailed statement that 20 men were apprehended at a party on Friday and fined 250 euros each. “The police were alerted by neighbors who complained about noise and potential breaches of measures related to the COVID-19 pandemic,” it said.
“A passer-by reported to the police that he had seen a man fleeing along the gutter; he was able to identify the man. The man's hands were bloody. It is possible that he may have been injured while fleeing. Narcotics were found in his backpack. The man was unable to produce any identity documents. He was escorted to his place of residence, where he identified himself as S. J. (1961) by means of a diplomatic passport.”
Sascha Hardt, assistant professor of comparative constitutional law at Maastricht University, believes Szajer’s attempts to use parliamentary immunity could have been a misuse of power. “It seems that he was apprehended flagrante delicto, in which case this immunity does not apply,” he told The Daily Beast.
Reports identified a Brussels gay bar as the site of the orgy, but its owner denied it.
“It’s absolutely false. It did not happen here. I think I will need to speak to my lawyer,” he told The Daily Beast.
According to DH, all those present were fined for the party, which broke Belgian limitations on gatherings under coronavirus legislation. The Brussels public prosecutor's office was informed of the incident, according to local reports, and decided to release the interested parties without further charge. The mayor of Brussels, Philippe Close, was also notified.
Delphine Colard, a spokesperson for the European Parliament, told The Daily Beast, “We have no confirmation of the allegations or any information related to a MEP. Please note that the standards of conduct established by the EP relate to the conduct during parliamentary activities–not personal life. Would the fact be established and be punishable by the local, national authorities, it is to these authorities to decide on the possible sanctions.”
Belgium introduced a second lockdown last month, with a curfew in place, bans on gatherings of more than four people, and so-called “cuddle contacts”—those who you can be physically close to—reduced to just one person outside of people’s households.
The Daily Beast did not receive comment from Brussels police by the time of publication. Officials at Hungary’s Fidesz party declined to comment.
