24.11.2017   

EN

Official Journal of the European Union

C 399/206

—

having regard to the request for waiver of the immunity of Stelios Kouloglou, forwarded on 7 August 2015 by the Prosecutor’s Office at the Supreme Court of Greece in connection with charges of libel and defamation (1) and announced in plenary on 9 September 2015,

—

having regard to the fact that Stelios Kouloglou waived his right to a hearing in accordance with Rule 9(5) of its Rules of Procedure,

—

having regard to Articles 8 and 9 of Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union, and to Article 6(2) of the Act of 20 September 1976 concerning the election of the members of the European Parliament by direct universal suffrage,

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having regard to the judgments of the Court of Justice of the European Union of 12 May 1964, 10 July 1986, 15 and 21 October 2008, 19 March 2010, 6 September 2011 and 17 January 2013 (2),

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having regard to Article 62 of the Constitution of the Hellenic Republic,

—

having regard to Rule 5(2), Rule 6(1) and Rule 9 of its Rules of Procedure,

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having regard to the report of the Committee on Legal Affairs (A8-0356/2015),

A.

whereas the Prosecutor’s Office at the Supreme Court of Greece has requested the waiver of the immunity of Stelios Kouloglou, Member of the European Parliament, in connection with possible legal action concerning an alleged offence;

B.

whereas Article 9 of Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union states that Members of the European Parliament enjoy, in the territory of their own state, the immunities accorded to members of the parliament of that state;

C.

whereas Article 62 of the Constitution of the Hellenic Republic provides that, during their parliamentary term, members of parliament may not be prosecuted, arrested, imprisoned or otherwise confined without prior leave granted by parliament;

D.

whereas Stelios Kouloglou is accused of libel and defamation of prison staff in Patras;

E.

whereas 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;

F.

whereas 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;

G.

whereas the prosecution does not concern opinions expressed or votes cast in the performance of the duties of the Member of the European Parliament in question for the purposes of Article 8 of Protocol No 7 on the Privileges and Immunities of the European Union;

H.

whereas there is no reason to suspect that the intention underlying criminal proceedings is to damage a Member’s political activity (fumus persecutionis), given that the prosecution was initiated a number of years before the Member took up his post;

I.

whereas the Greek authorities requested a response from the European Parliament by 7 October 2015 at the latest, as the prosecution would otherwise be time-barred, but whereas Parliament’s procedural requirements do not allow a decision to be taken in such a short timeframe;

J.

whereas, however, it is the considered opinion of the Committee on Legal Affairs that, in the light of Judgment No 1126/1994 of the Greek Supreme Court, the time bar is in any case suspended for up to three years while Stelios Kouloglou is a Member of the European Parliament;

1.

Decides to waive the immunity of Stelios Kouloglou;

2.

Instructs its President to forward this decision and the report of its committee responsible immediately to the Greek authorities.