Request for waiver of the immunity of Petr Bystron

The European Parliament decided to waive the immunity of Petr Bystron.

The Munich I Chief Public Prosecutor requested the waiver of the parliamentary immunity of Petr Bystron, a Member of the European Parliament, in the context of accusations brought against him regarding the alleged use of symbols of unconstitutional and terrorist organisations.

The request indicated that, following the dismissal from office of the Ukrainian Ambassador to Germany on 12 July 2022, Petr Bystron allegedly published a photo montage on his Twitter account, showing clippings from pictures of persons having formerly occupied high public office with each holding up their right or left arm with the hand outstretched and fingers pointing upwards. Petr Bystron was accused of at least tacit acceptance that this photo montage would leave an objective Twitter user with the impression that the arm position depicted was the ‘Hitler salute’.

His immunity had already been lifted by the German Bundestag in 2023, before he was elected to the European Parliament in 2024. After his election, the competent authorities suspended the criminal proceedings against him in order to proceed with the request for the lifting of his immunity.

Parliament considered that the alleged offence is not related to any opinion or vote cast by Petr Bystron in the exercise of his duties as a Member of the European Parliament. Furthermore, it has found no evidence of fumus persecutionis, which is to say factual elements which indicate that the intention underlying the legal proceedings may be to damage a Member’s political activity and thus the European Parliament.