P9_TA(2022)0087

Request for the waiver of the immunity of Ioannis Lagos

European Parliament decision of 24 March 2022 on the request for waiver of the immunity of Ioannis Lagos (2021/2225(IMM))

(2022/C 361/04)

The European Parliament,

— having regard to the request of the Deputy Public Prosecutor at the Athens Court of First Instance for waiver of the immunity of Ioannis Lagos, transmitted by letter dated 10 September 2021 by the Deputy Supreme Court Prosecutor in connection with possible criminal charges (Re. ABM: RB 2020/193-EG: 6-21/50), and announced in plenary on 18 October 2021,

— having heard Ioannis Lagos in accordance with Rule 9(6) of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to Article 8 of Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union, and Article 6(2) of the Act of 20 September 1976 concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage,

— having regard to the judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 21 October 2008, 19 March 2010, 6 September 2011, 17 January 2013 and 19 December 2019 (1),

— having regard to Rule 5(2), Rule 6(1) and Rule 9 of its Rules of Procedure,

— having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs (A9-0055/2022),

A. whereas the Deputy Public Prosecutor at the Athens Court of First Instance has submitted a request for waiver of the parliamentary immunity of Ioannis Lagos in order to launch criminal proceedings against him on the grounds of certain statements he made during a plenary debate in the European Parliament;

B. whereas, on 14 September 2020, during a plenary debate in the European Parliament, Ioannis Lagos made declarations allegedly disseminating xenophobic and islamophobic fake news about migrants in Moria;

C. whereas Ioannis Lagos, by making those statements, is allegedly guilty of public incitement to violence and hatred against persons identified on the basis of race, colour, or national or ethnic origin in a manner that endangers public order and poses a threat to the physical integrity of the aforementioned persons, which constitutes a criminal offence under Article 1(1) of Greek Law 927/1979, as replaced by Article 1 of Greek Law 4285/2014;

D. whereas parliamentary immunity is not a Member’s personal privilege but a guarantee of the independence of Parliament as a whole and of its Members;

E. whereas Parliament cannot assume the role of a court, and whereas, in a waiver of immunity procedure, a Member cannot be regarded as a defendant (2);

F. whereas Article 8 of Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union stipulates that ‘Members of the European Parliament shall not be subject to any form of inquiry, detention or legal proceedings in respect of opinions expressed or votes cast by them in the performance of their duties’;

G. whereas Ioannis Lagos made the aforementioned statements during a plenary session of the European Parliament, within the precincts where the plenary sitting itself was being conducted, in the performance of his duties as a Member of the European Parliament;

H. whereas Ioannis Lagos’ statements were therefore made in the context of his duties as a Member of and his work at the European Parliament;

1. Decides not to waive the immunity of Ioannis Lagos;

2. Instructs its President to forward this decision and the report of its committee responsible immediately to the competent authority of the Hellenic Republic and to Ioannis Lagos.

(1) Judgment of the Court of Justice of 21 October 2008, Marra v De Gregorio and Clemente, C-200/07 and C-201/07, ECLI:EU:C:2008:579; judgment of the General Court of 19 March 2010, Gollnisch v Parliament, T-42/06, ECLI:EU:T:2010:102; judgment of the Court of Justice of 6 September 2011, Patriciello, C-163/10, ECLI: EU:C:2011:543; judgment of the General Court of 17 January 2013, Gollnisch v Parliament, T-346/11 and T-347/11, ECLI:EU:T:2013:23; judgment of the Court of Justice of 19 December 2019, Junqueras Vies, C-502/19, ECLI:EU:C:2019:1115.

(2) Judgment of the General Court of 30 April 2019, Briois v Parliament, T-214/18, ECLI:EU:T:2019:266.