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Hungarian MEP resigns over lockdown party

(ANSA-AFP) - BRUSSELS, DEC 1 - A conservative Hungarian MEP and close ally of Prime Minister Viktor Orban apologised Tuesday after Belgian police caught him fleeing a lockdown-busting party that local press described as an orgy. Jozsef Szajer, who helped write Hungary's constitution, resigned over the weekend for what he said were "personal reasons" but admitted on Tuesday he had received a police caution and was found in possession of ecstasy. Brussels prosecutors told AFP that 20 men were caught at a city centre party on Friday and fined 250 euros each. Aside from the MEP, two guests invoked diplomatic immunity. Local press called it a "sex party" in an apartment in a quarter of the historic centre known pre-lockdown for its gay bars. Szajer, 59, made no reference to sexual activity and denied taking drugs or knowing about the ecstasy pill found on him, but he apologised to his family for breaking Covid-19 restrictions. (ANSA-AFP).