Summary Hungary’s parliament has lifted Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s immunity, allowing prosecutors to continue a theft investigation stemming from a 2024 nightclub incident involving a mobile phone.
BUDAPEST (Dunya News) - Hungary’s parliament has lifted the parliamentary immunity of Prime Minister Péter Magyar, clearing the way for prosecutors to continue an investigation into allegations that he took a man’s mobile phone during a nightclub altercation in 2024 and threw it into the Danube River.
The motion was approved on Monday with 139 votes in favour, with no votes against or abstentions. Magyar himself had asked lawmakers to lift his immunity, saying he was prepared to face the investigation.
The case dates back to June 21, 2024, when Magyar was at a nightclub in Budapest. According to the prosecution's account, a man was recording him on a mobile phone, leading to an argument. Magyar allegedly took the phone from the man's hand and later threw it into the Danube after both men were removed from the club. Divers subsequently recovered the device from the river and returned it to its owner in working condition.
Magyar has disputed the allegation that his actions amounted to theft and has described the case as politically motivated. He has acknowledged taking the phone but denies criminal wrongdoing.
Hungarian prosecutors first sought to have Magyar's immunity lifted in September 2024, when he was a member of the European Parliament. The European Parliament did not waive his immunity at that time. An official European Parliament document records that the case concerned an alleged theft involving a phone valued at approximately 130,000 to 150,000 Hungarian forints.
After Magyar's European Parliament mandate ended in May 2026 and he became a member of Hungary's National Assembly, the investigation was reopened and prosecutors subsequently asked the Hungarian parliament to lift his domestic parliamentary immunity.
Parliament also lifted the immunity of two former ministers from Viktor Orbán's government, Balázs Hankó and Miklós Seszták, in separate investigations involving allegations of misuse of public funds and bribery. Both cases are separate from the investigation involving Magyar.
The parliamentary decision means prosecutors can now proceed with the investigation into the allegations against the prime minister. It does not itself establish that Magyar committed a crime; the allegations remain subject to investigation and any subsequent legal proceedings.
