Politician threatens bicycle courier with gun in Budapest

János Vadász (53), a former member of the governing Hungarian Socialist Party, threatened a young bicycle courier identified as Viktor K. with a gun following a traffic dispute on Budapest's Kodály körönd (District VI) last week, reports stop.hu. He surrendered himself to police on the weekend. According to Vadász, the situation was not nearly as serious or dangerous as the media reported. K. said he was not surprised by what happened, as "nobody pays any attention to cyclists in Budapest."

Vadász was driving a silver Toyota Corolla on Felsőerdősor utca Tuesday morning when he forced K. onto the side of the road. The cyclist verbally insulted him and hit the roof of his vehicle with his hand. Vadász then got out of his car and ordered K. to identify himself. When K. refused, Vadász produced a gun from the glove compartment and threatened him.

K., a student at the University of Physical Education, has been working as a bicycle courier for the Easy Rider company for three months. He also raced for 10 years, so was fully prepared for this dangerous job. However, he said he was afraid of what a person who points a gun at someone in the street might be capable of.

Vadász said he had no intention of shooting K. and was only using the gun to defend himself. He added that he had a permit to keep a gun. K. and Vadász will have an appointment at the police station on Thursday.

The Hungarian media had previously mistakenly reported that the politician was a member of the opposition party Fidesz, because he closely resembles a member of that party.

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