A demonstration to protest against the amendment of a tax law was organised by a left-wing party in Budapest on 13 July. At the demonstration, many protesters were under the influence of alcohol, and several people were arrested for possessing and using substances suspected to be drugs.

On Wednesday evening, a demonstration with the participation of a few hundred people took place on in Kossuth Square in front of the Parliament in Budapest. The demonstrators took to the streets to protest against a tax law amendment.

At the demonstration that tuned into traffic blockades many protesters were under the influence of alcohol, and in several instances, people were arrested for possessing and using suspected drugs, the Hungarian news portal Magyar Nemzet reported, citing police sources. Authorities detained Gergely Kovacs, the chair of the Hungarian Two-Tailed Dog Party, who was taken away in handcuffs from the evening protest for possessing such a substance. The politician admitted that he had used that substance, so police initiated criminal proceedings against him. Following his arrest, the party chairman was questioned as a suspect at the regional police headquarters. Later, authorities searched his apartment and found additional substances suspected to be drugs. Another politician of the party Zsuzsanna Dome, deputy mayor of Budapest’s 9th district, was also taken away from the demonstration in handcuffs. Both were released, the party announce on social media after nine am on Thursday.

Budapest police headquarters listed the actions taken on its website police.hu.

Police ensure the exercise of the right to express opinions and assemble peacefully, however, this cannot result in violating the rights of others to an extent which means completely paralysing the capital’s busiest traffic routes for hours,

the police wrote in their statement.

The police filed a report against three people who were obstructing traffic on foot and on bicycles at the intersection of Bajcsy-Zsilinszky street and Andrassy street. A man hit a policeman in the head with a chain at the Buda side of the Elizabeth bridge. The suspect was arrested, and criminal proceedings were initiated against him at the prosecutor’s office for violence against an official. Also at the bridge, another man was arrested on suspicion of vandalism. One man was arrested on suspicion of violating freedom of association and assembly. On Elizabeth Bridge, a man and a woman refused to leave the roadway despite repeated requests from the police. Both of them were brought before the police, and the man was also found to be in possession of suspected drugs, for which criminal proceedings were initiated against him and misdemeanour proceedings against the woman. On Margaret Bridge, police arrested two people for hooliganism, and used coercive force against three people after they refused to move from the roadway to the sidewalk after repeated requests. Another Hungarian news outlet, Pesti Sracok, reported on a man who showed his naked butt to journalists, but in response to a question said that he also bought price-capped fuel, although he was aware that „this system is not sustainable.”

Press reports point out that by midnight last night, the situation came to a deadlock at the Carmelite monastery (the residence of the Prime Minister), where a police cordon blocked the path of those protesting against the tax law amendment. A small group reportedly continued the demonstration on Margaret Bridge, disrupting traffic. Then, at half past one, both the crowd and the police stopped at the Pest end of the bridge. A female voice over a loudspeaker at the demonstrators’ side wished everyone a good night. After that, there were about 70 people left, who sang the national anthem, Magyar Nemzet reports.