Request for the waiver of the immunity of Steeve Briois

The European Parliament decided to lift the immunity Steeve Briois.

As a reminder, the request for waiver of the immunity of Steeve Briois, forwarded on 25 September 2017 by the Minister of Justice of the French Republic at the request of the Prosecutor General of the Court of Appeal of Douai related to a complaint filed against Mr Briois by a civil party for the offence of public insult directed at an individual (‘injures publiques envers un particulier’).

Parliament considered that the allegations against Steeve Briois, and the subsequent request for waiver of his immunity, are not related to an opinion expressed or vote cast by him in the performance of his duties as a Member of the European Parliament, but to the fact that he allegedly failed to remove from his official Facebook page a number of comments posted by third parties and perceived by the person targeted as insulting.

It therefore considered that the immunity accorded by Article 8 of Protocol No 7 is not applicable. Moreover, in this case there is no apparent evidence of fumus persecutionis, that is, a sufficiently serious and precise suspicion that the case has been brought with the intention of causing political damage to the Member concerned.

As a result, Parliament decided to waive the immunity of Steve Briois.