Szőlő Street juvenile detention centre scandal continues: shocking videos reveal abuse of minors

The controversy surrounding the Szőlő Street Juvenile Detention Centre is escalating. Péter Juhász, a former politician from the Együtt party and now a political activist, has recently shared a disturbing video showing the acting director of the centre, Károly Kovács-Buna, violently attacking a detainee. Juhász insists that this behaviour is unacceptable, even if the detainee had caused damage beforehand. He has promised to release further footage, while the prosecution service, police, and child protection authorities have been conducting raids since early this morning.

Scandal deepens at Szőlő Street juvenile centre

At dawn today, a major joint operation by the police and the prosecution service took place at Budapest’s Szőlő Street Juvenile Detention Centre, accompanied by child protection experts. Yesterday, Péter Juhász released several videos showing the acting director physically assaulting a detainee either before or after—this remains unclear—the detainee caused serious damage inside the building, including ripping a door from its frame and throwing it to the floor.

According to another video, Kovács-Buna kicked a different inmate in the stomach while the boy was doing press-ups, causing him to collapse and writhe on the floor in pain.

The footage is available here, with the key moments at 11:16, 12:39, and 14:31:

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It remains unclear whether the police and prosecution raids are connected to the release of the videos. Juhász claims that the footage, which he made public on Sunday, had been in the possession of law enforcement agencies for six months without any action being taken. The acting director resigned yesterday afternoon.

The police and prosecution service have not provided details regarding today’s raids, but confirmed that investigations are ongoing at the site and that three people have been taken into custody, according to Blikk.