Hungary lifts immunity for Magyar and two lawmakers

Hungary’s parliament voted on September 28 to lift the immunity of Prime Minister Péter Magyar and lawmakers Balázs Hankó and Miklós Seszták, removing a legal barrier to investigations into three separate cases. The decision does not establish guilt, and none of the three had been indicted in the accounts provided. Each measure passed with 139 votes in favour and no votes against or abstentions, according to reports of the extraordinary session. The Fidesz and KDNP parliamentary groups did not attend. The parliamentary Immunity Committee had not supported lifting the protections, but lawmakers approved the measures in the full session. Magyar had asked his fellow lawmakers to support lifting his immunity. Prosecutors are investigating an incident at a Budapest nightclub in June 2024, alleging that he took a mobile phone from a man who was filming him and threw it into the Danube. Magyar denies committing a crime and has described the case as politically motivated. The immunity decision allows investigative steps to proceed; it does not determine whether further proceedings or charges will follow.