BUDAPEST, September 30: Hungary’s parliament has lifted Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s parliamentary immunity, paving the way for prosecutors to proceed with a criminal investigation into an incident involving the alleged seizure of a mobile phone at a nightclub in 2024.

The parliament on September 28 approved the lifting of immunity of Prime Minister Péter Magyar and two other lawmakers. The resolution received 139 votes in favour, with no votes against.

The case relates to an incident that occurred in the early hours of June 21, 2024, at a nightclub in Budapest. According to the Hungarian Prosecutor General’s Office, Magyar, who was then a member of the European Parliament, was at the nightclub when a man began recording him on a mobile phone.

Prosecutors said an argument broke out after the man filmed Magyar, during which Magyar allegedly took the mobile phone from the man’s hand and put it in his pocket. He later allegedly threw the phone into the Danube River. The device was subsequently recovered from the river with the assistance of divers.

In September 2024, Hungary’s Prosecutor General’s Office sought the lifting of Magyar’s immunity as a member of the European Parliament so that an investigation into suspected theft could proceed. His immunity was not lifted at the time, preventing the case from moving forward.

Magyar later became a member of Hungary’s parliament and was elected prime minister. Prosecutors subsequently sought the lifting of his parliamentary immunity in Hungary, leading to the latest parliamentary vote.

Magyar has denied committing any crime and has described the case as politically motivated. He had also called on members of his party to vote in favour of lifting his immunity, saying he had nothing to hide.

The lifting of parliamentary immunity does not mean that Magyar has been found guilty of an offence. He has not been convicted or formally charged in the case, and the matter remains under investigation. The parliamentary decision allows prosecutors to pursue the investigation without the protection provided by parliamentary immunity.

In the same session, parliament also lifted the immunity of two former ministers who served under former Prime Minister Viktor Orbán, Balázs Hankó and Miklós Seszták. They are facing separate investigations concerning alleged financial irregularities and corruption.