The European Parliament decided to waive the immunity of Georgios KYRTSOS (EPP, EL).
Parliament recalled that the Prosecutor’s Office at the Supreme Court of Greece has requested the waiver of the immunity of Georgios Kyrtsos, Member of the European Parliament, in connection with possible legal action concerning an alleged offence. The accusation relates to non-payment by Mr Kyrtsos of part of the 2013 salary of a former employee of two newspaper publishing firms, of which Georgios Kyrtsos was the manager at the time.
Noting that the alleged offence clearly has nothing to do with the office of Georgios Kyrtsos as a Member of the European Parliament but is rather connected to his former position as manager of two newspaper firms, Parliament considered that 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.
Therefore, Parliament decided to waive the immunity of Georgios Kyrtsos.