Hungary’s parliament has removed Prime Minister Peter Magyar’s parliamentary immunity, allowing criminal proceedings to continue over an incident at a Budapest club in June 2024, according to media reports cited in the source material.
Magyar is suspected of taking a man’s mobile phone during a confrontation and later throwing it into the Danube. The allegation has not been established by a court.
Before the parliamentary vote, Magyar reportedly said he voluntarily agreed to have his immunity lifted and urged lawmakers to support the decision. He said he did not intend to use parliamentary immunity to avoid the investigation.
The proceedings had previously been unable to advance fully because of Magyar’s immunity, first as a Member of the European Parliament and later as a member of Hungary’s National Assembly and as prime minister.
Media coverage of the parliamentary decision is available from and Haqqin.
The source material presents Magyar’s decision as an indication that Hungary’s new leadership is willing to allow investigations involving its own representatives. It also says Magyar has supported limiting parliamentary immunity where a lawmaker must answer to the law or is involved in criminal proceedings.
The material further states that Magyar and several former ministers from Viktor Orbán’s government had their immunity removed at the same time. It contrasts Magyar’s position with that of unnamed Fidesz representatives, who, according to the material, described proceedings involving their allies as political persecution and sought to pressure investigators and threaten the prosecution service and the new government. These characterisations are political claims contained in the source material.
