The plenary session of the European Parliament decided for the second time in favor of lifting the immunity of MEP Ioannis Lagos.

In particular, the European Parliament,

– bearing in mind the request of the prosecutor of the Supreme Court dated December 8, 2021, with which the request submitted by the Athens First Instance Prosecutor’s Office to lift the immunity of Ioannis Lagos, in relation to criminal proceedings, and which was announced to the plenary on February 14, 2022 ,

– having heard Ioannis Lagos, in accordance with article 9 paragraph 6 of its Rules of Procedure,

– bearing in mind articles 8 and 9 of Protocol no. 7 on the privileges and immunities of the European Union, as well as article 6 paragraph 2 of the Act of 20 September 1976 on the election of members of the European Parliament by direct and universal suffrage,

– bearing in mind the decisions issued by the Court of Justice of the European Union on 21 October 2008, 19 March 2010, 6 September 2011, 17 January 2013 and 19 December 2019[1],

– bearing in mind article 62 of the Constitution of the Hellenic Republic,

– bearing in mind article 5 paragraph 2, article 6 paragraph 1 and article 9 of its Regulation,

– having regard to the report of the Legal Affairs Committee (A9-0053/2023),

A. considering that the Athens First Instance Prosecutor’s Office has requested the lifting of the immunity of Ioannis Lagos, Member of the European Parliament elected for Greece, in order to bring criminal proceedings against him due to a message posted by Ioannis Lagos on the social media platform Twitter;

B. whereas, on 6 December 2020, Ioannis Lagos posted on his Twitter account, together with a photo of a Jewish monument in Larissa, a message which allegedly contained racist comments and indirectly encouraged behavior that could lead to discrimination, hatred and violence;

C. whereas, on December 8, 2020, the Hellenic Observatory of the Helsinki Accords filed a lawsuit against Ioannis Lagos due to his Twitter post;

D. considering that Ioannis Lagos, by posting on Twitter, is alleged to be guilty of the offense of public incitement to violence and hatred against persons identified on the basis of race, colour, 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 act according to article 1 paragraph 1 of the Law. 927/1979, as amended by Article 1 of Law 4285/2014;

E. bearing in mind, on the one hand, that Parliament is not a court of law and, on the other hand, that the Member of Parliament cannot, in the context of immunity waiver proceedings, be considered an “accused”[2]·

F. considering that parliamentary immunity is not a personal privilege of the Member, but a guarantee of the independence of the Parliament as a whole and its Members, and that parliamentary immunity is intended to protect the Parliament and its Members from legal proceedings concerning activities which are carried out in the exercise of parliamentary duties and which are inextricably linked to these duties;

G. considering that the disputed message and the disputed image were not published on the Twitter account of Ioannis Lagos linked to his official profile as a Member of the European Parliament;

H. considering that the alleged offenses do not concern an opinion or vote given by Ioannis Lagos in the exercise of his duties as a Member of the European Parliament within the meaning of Article 8 of Protocol no. 7 on the privileges and immunities of the European Union;

I. considering that, as provided for in Article 9 of Protocol No. 7 on the privileges and immunities of the European Union, the members of the European Parliament enjoy, within the territory of their states, the immunities recognized to the members of the Parliament of their country;

I. considering that Article 62 of the Constitution of the Hellenic Republic provides, among other things, that, while the parliamentary term lasts, the Member of Parliament shall not be prosecuted, arrested, imprisoned, or otherwise restricted without the permission of the House;

IA. whereas, in the present case, the Parliament did not find evidence of fumus persecutionis, i.e. factual evidence indicating that the prosecution is aimed at obstructing the political activity of the Member and, therefore, the European Parliament;

1. decides to lift the immunity of Ioannis Lagos;

2. instructs its president to immediately forward this decision and the report of its competent committee to the competent authority of the Hellenic Republic and to Ioannis Lagos.