If the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee were to decide to suspend Peter Magyar’s parliamentary immunity without a hearing, that would be an understandable and correct decision — Gergely Gulyas said today, in response to a question from our newspaper during the government’s weekly press briefing. The minister in charge of the Prime Minister’s Office emphasized that it is completely unprecedented for someone to avoid legal responsibility despite a proven act of theft.
As previously reported, the European Parliament’s Legal Affairs Committee initially placed, then removed from its agenda, a planned hearingf on the suspension of Peter Magyar’s immunity. In this context, Fidesz MEP Csaba Domotor remarked:
“This means they don’t even want to get to the first stage of the procedure, even though the EP plenary has already voted on a number of immunity cases that were submitted to the European Parliament much later."
In Brussels, our correspondent questioned arriving committee members about the reasons for this and asked how they justified the delay. However, the politicians declined to respond and instead hurried away from the questions.
Today, when we say that Tisza is a Brussels-based party, it’s clear that Peter Magyar depends on Brussels’ grace, as they've made his accountability in a theft case impossible for nearly a year now,
– he explained.
It is worth recalling that back in September 2024, Hungarian authorities formally requested the suspension of Peter Magyar’s immunity in connection with a phone theft. According to the Chief Prosecutor’s Office, while at a Budapest nightclub, Mr. Magyar behaved disruptively, got into an argument, and snatched a man’s phone after noticing that he was being recorded. Later, he threw the device into the Danube River.
The prosecutor's office requested the suspension of his immunity on suspicion of theft.
The case takes on a particularly ironic tone considering that Peter Magyar repeatedly criticized the institution of parliamentary immunity during the election campaign, and even promised not to accept a seat in the European Parliament. Ultimately, however, he broke both promises: he became an MEP and now enjoys the legal protection of immunity.
