Hungarian prosecutors question Prime Minister Péter Magyar in phone theft case
In short
Hungarian prosecutors questioned Prime Minister Péter Magyar as an accused person in a case over the theft of a mobile phone in a nightclub, and he did not admit guilt. According to investigators cited by Kommersant, in June 2024 Magyar took a phone worth about €275 from a man filming him and threw it into the Danube; Magyar called the incident a provocation.
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Hungarian prosecutors have questioned Prime Minister Péter Magyar as an accused person in a case over the theft of a mobile phone in a nightclub, RBC and Kommersant reported. TASS and RIA Novosti also reported that Magyar was questioned in the phone theft case. According to TASS and Kommersant, the head of government did not admit the charges. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
"This evening, at a pre-arranged time, I was questioned at the Central Chief Investigating Prosecutor's Office in connection with the events of June 21, 2024. I made a brief statement and did not admit guilt in the offence I am charged with," Magyar wrote on Facebook, as quoted by Kommersant. [ 4 ]
According to the investigators' version cited by Kommersant, in June 2024 Magyar took a phone worth about €275 from a man who was filming him in a nightclub and threw the device into the Danube. Magyar called what happened a provocation. [ 4 ]
Kommersant reported that Hungary's parliament had earlier stripped the prime minister of his parliamentary immunity at the prosecutors' request, and that Magyar himself supported that decision. [ 4 ]
Why it matters
The case makes Hungary's sitting head of government an accused person in a criminal case, after parliament lifted his immunity at the prosecutors' request, Kommersant reported. The documents do not say what the next steps in the case will be.
Key facts
- Hungarian prosecutors questioned Péter Magyar in a case over the theft of a mobile phone. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- Magyar, Hungary's prime minister, was questioned as an accused person. [ 3 , 4 ]
- Magyar did not admit the charges. [ 1 , 4 ]
- Magyar wrote on Facebook that he was questioned at the Central Chief Investigating Prosecutor's Office in connection with the events of June 21, 2024. [ 4 ]
- According to investigators, in June 2024 Magyar took a phone worth about €275 from a man who was filming him in a nightclub and threw it into the Danube. [ 4 ]
- Magyar called the incident a provocation. [ 4 ]
- Parliament earlier stripped Magyar of his parliamentary immunity at the prosecutors' request, a decision he supported. [ 4 ]
Confirmed by several sources
- Péter Magyar was questioned in Hungary over the theft of a mobile phone. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- The questioning was carried out by Hungarian prosecutors. [ 2 , 3 , 4 ]
- Magyar was questioned as an accused person in a case over a phone theft in a nightclub. [ 3 , 4 ]
- Magyar did not admit the charges. [ 1 , 4 ]
Still unclear
- The investigators' account that Magyar took a phone worth about €275 from a man filming him and threw it into the Danube. Reported only by Kommersant, and Magyar disputes it, calling the incident a provocation.
- What Magyar said in his brief statement to prosecutors. Magyar said he made a brief statement but the documents do not give its content.
- What happens next in the case. None of the documents say whether or when the case will go to court.
What local media are saying
Timeline, local time
- TASS reports that Magyar was questioned over the theft of a mobile phone and did not admit the charges. [ 1 ]
- RIA Novosti reports that Hungarian prosecutors questioned Magyar in the phone theft case. [ 2 ]
- RBC reports that Magyar was questioned as an accused person over a phone theft in a nightclub. [ 3 ]
- Kommersant publishes Magyar's Facebook statement and the investigators' account of the June 2024 incident. [ 4 ]