Request for the waiver of the immunity of Ioannis Lagos

The European Parliament decided to waive the immunity of Ioannis Lagos (NI, EL).

As a reminder, the Public Prosecutor at the Athens Court of First Instance requested the waiver of the immunity of Ioannis Lagos, Member of the European Parliament elected for Greece, in order to launch criminal proceedings against him on the grounds of a message posted by Ioannis Lagos on the social media platform Twitter.

On 6 December 2020, Ioannis Lagos published on his Twitter account a message, alongside a photograph of a Jewish monument in Larissa, containing allegedly racist comments and allegedly constituting an indirectly encouraging behaviour that might result in acts of discrimination, hatred or violence. Ioannis Lagos, by publishing that message on Twitter, 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 Greek Law.

The resolution stated that the message and picture in question were not published on Ioannis Lagos’ Twitter account linked to his official profile as a Member of the European Parliament and that the alleged offence does not concern opinions expressed or votes cast by Ioannis Lagos in the performance of his duties as a Member of the European Parliament.

In the present case, Parliament has not been able to establish that there was fumus persecutionis, i.e. factual elements indicating that the possible legal proceedings in question will be initiated with the intention of damaging the political activity of the Member and, consequently, of the European Parliament.

Therefore, following the recommendation of its Legal Affairs Committee, Parliament decided to waive the immunity of Ioannis Lagos.