Hungary Lifts Immunity for PM Magyar, Two Ex-Ministers Detained

Hungary's parliament voted unanimously on Monday to lift the parliamentary immunity of Prime Minister Peter Magyar, former Interior Minister Balazs Hanko, and former KDNP lawmaker Miklos Sesztak. The 139-0 vote occurred while Fidesz and KDNP lawmakers boycotted the session, leaving opposition members to approve the prosecutor's requests.

Magyar faces investigation for allegedly seizing a phone recording him at a Budapest nightclub on June 21, 2024, and throwing it into the Danube. He denies theft charges, calling the case politically motivated. The European Parliament previously declined to lift his immunity.

“We are looking for a leader whose independence and non-partisanship everyone sees as unquestionable.”

Hanko is suspected of breach of trust in a 17 billion forint NKA fund distribution case. Sesztak is accused of pocketing 12.6 billion forint in bribes, with nearly 3 billion forint in assets seized in the Volanbusz affair. Both former ministers were taken into custody by the National Investigation Bureau (NVVH) on Monday evening.

During the session, opposition lawmakers placed "Me today, you tomorrow" signs on the empty seats of Hanko and Sesztak. Speaker Aniko Hallerne Nagy ordered the removal of the signs. Magyar announced plans to file criminal complaints over a 2014 incident where police divers were sent into the flooded Danube at night to retrieve a phone.