Hungary's parliament voted Monday to lift the parliamentary immunity of Prime Minister Péter Magyar, along with that of two former ministers from Viktor Orbán's government, allowing prosecutors to investigate them in separate criminal cases.
The vote passed 139 to 0 with no abstentions, according to Xinhua. Magyar had specifically asked for his immunity to be lifted, saying he wanted to clear his name of what he called "character assassination."
Prosecutors allege Magyar snatched a phone from a man who was filming him at a Budapest nightclub in 2024 and threw it into the Danube River. He is being investigated on suspicion of theft.
Lawmakers also lifted the immunity of former culture minister Balázs Hankó and former development minister Miklós Seszták, who has been detained by prosecutors. The vote followed a request from prosecutors last week to investigate all three. Orbán's Fidesz party boycotted the vote, and Magyar accused the opposition of trying to divert attention from the corruption cases.
The phone case predates Magyar's rise to power. Hungarian prosecutors previously sought to lift his immunity while he served as a member of the European Parliament, but lawmakers there rejected the request in October 2025, after the parliament's legal affairs committee raised doubts that he could receive a fair trial in Hungary under Orbán. At the time, Magyar said the proceedings were an attempt by Orbán to block him from running in the election.
Magyar's Tisza party swept to power in April, ending Orbán's 16 years in office on a pledge to investigate alleged corruption and abuse of office. Magyar has said he wants to abolish parliamentary immunity altogether for publicly prosecuted criminal offenses.
Lifting immunity does not amount to a charge or conviction, but allows the investigation to proceed.
