Request for the waiver of the immunity of Stelios Kouloglou

The European Parliament decided to waive the immunity of Stelios KOULOGLOU (GUE/NGL, EL).

Parliament recalled that Stelios Kouloglou is accused of libel and defamation of prison staff in Patras. That accusation relates to statements which Stelios Kouloglou is claimed to have made to the press in 2010 about the probity of certain members of the prison staff in Patras, at a time when he was a journalist chiefly producing television reporting.

Noting that the alleged offence clearly has nothing to do with the office of Stelios Kouloglou as a Member of the European Parliament but is rather connected to his former position as a television reporter, Parliament found that there is no reason to suspect that the intention underlying criminal proceedings is to damage a Member’s political activity (fumus persecutionis).

Therefore, Parliament decided waive the immunity of Stelios Kouloglou.