European Parliament lifts immunity of 2 Greek lawmakers

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – European Parliament in Brussels lifted the immunity of two Greek lawmakers, Greek media reported on Thursday.

During a plenary session, the immunity of Alexis Georgoulis was lifted in connection with an allegation of sexual abuse, while Maria Spyraki's immunity was lifted due to allegations of fraud against the EU budget, as reported by the state-run AMNA news agency.

In a statement, Stamatia Malla, the lawyer of Georgoulis, mentioned that her client had personally offered to appear before the relevant Belgian judicial authorities to provide explanations. However, this was not feasible as the process of waiving his immunity had not been finalized.

Similarly, Spyraki said in a statement that she did not hide behind her immunity.

"Instead, in a letter to the chairman of the Legal Affairs Committee (JURI), I asked for my immunity to be lifted and the process to be expedited," she said. "I have complete faith in justice".​​​​​​​