English
The Hungarian parliament today unanimously – with 139 votes in favor and no votes against or abstentions – to lift the immunity of Prime Minister Peter Magyar, thereby removing the legal obstacle to continuing the investigation into a 2024 incident, Hungarian media reported.
The Hungarian prosecutor’s office requested the lifting of his immunity last week so that the investigation could proceed and, provided legal conditions were met, the Prime Minister could be questioned as a suspect. The case concerns an incident on June 21, 2024, at the “Otkert” club in Budapest, where Magyar is suspected of taking a mobile phone from a man who was filming him during an altercation and subsequently throwing it into the Danube; the phone was later recovered with the help of divers.
Proceedings were initially initiated while Magyar was a Member of the European Parliament; the EP had rejected a request to lift his immunity in October 2025. Following the end of his EP term in May of this year, Magyar was elected as a member of the Hungarian parliament and as the country’s Prime Minister. Before the vote took place, Magyar urged the MPs from his Tisza Party to support the lifting of his immunity.
I have not committed any criminal offense. I am responsible for all my actions, words, and deeds, declared Magyar, emphasizing that there was no reason for him to invoke parliamentary immunity.
At the same time, he criticized the prosecution, claiming it was attempting to place his case in the same context as investigations into multi-billion-euro corruption scandals involving former government officials. Magyar had previously described the proceedings as an attempt at political discrediting, while the prosecution rejects such allegations.
With the parliament’s decision, the investigation can legally proceed, though the lifting of immunity itself does not imply a finding of guilt. Should formal charges be filed, the competent court will decide on Magyar’s guilt.