Parliamentary immunity: It's judgment day for MEPs Peter Magyar and Ilaria Salis

The European Parliament’s Committee connected Legal Affairs (JURI) is acceptable to ballot contiguous connected whether to assistance the immunity of 5 members of Parliament, including Hungarian absorption person Peter Magyar and Italian left-wing firebrand Ilaria Salis.

The 25 lawmakers connected JURI volition ballot secretly connected 7 requests to portion immunity, making a proposal connected whether to o.k. oregon cull them.

The last determination connected each lawsuit volition past beryllium taken by the Parliament successful a plenary session, wherever each MEPs tin corroborate oregon reverse the ballot of their colleagues successful the JURI Committee. If their immunity is waived, nationalist authorities tin spell up with ineligible proceedings against an MEP, portion they inactive support their seat.

Three of the 7 requests people Hungarian MEP Peter Magyar, laminitis and person of the absorption Tisza party, wanted by his ain country’s authorities for theft and defamation.

Hungary’s judiciary besides issued requests to waive the immunity of Klára Dobrev, a Socialist Hungarian MEP, and Salis, an Italian lawmaker from the Left group.

The 2 remaining requests interest Michał Dworczyk and Daniel Obajtek, some members of the Conservative Polish enactment Law and Justice (PiS), and wanted by the Polish authorities.

Péter Magyar claims it's 'political'

Hungarian authorities person asked the European Parliament to assistance the immunity of Péter Magyar 3 times.

The archetypal petition was sent by Hungary's Chief Prosecutor's Office and is related to allegations that Magyar threw a man's telephone into the Danube River aft an statement successful a Budapest nightclub with a antheral who was filming him.

The 2nd lawsuit against him relates to a erstwhile subordinate of the Hungarian Parliament, György Simonka, who sued Magyar for defamation. The 3rd tribunal case, initiated by the far-right Our Homeland Movement successful Hungary, is besides for defamation.

If Magyar were to suffer his immunity, Hungarian authorities could analyse and complaint him for these offences, each viewed arsenic politically motivated by the opposition. The Tisza enactment is the biggest situation to the powerfulness of Viktor Orbán's Fidesz successful Hungary, with caller sentiment polls showing Tisza leading, if elections were held now.

“I deliberation it's evident to everyone that this is simply a governmental issue. I'm a forty-four-year-old lawyer with 3 children, a cleanable record, who has had nationalist information clearances for much than fractional of the past 2 decades, due to the fact that of my jobs and due to the fact that of my ex-wife. And they've ne'er recovered anything,” Magyar claimed when helium was quizzed by the JURI Committee, referring to his ex-wife, Judit Varga, who was the justness curate of Hungary.

However, it's improbable that Magyar volition suffer his immunity. He is portion of the centre-right European People’s Party (EPP), the largest radical successful the Parliament, and volition astir apt besides beryllium defended by the Socialists and Democrats, Renew Europe, and the Greens/EFA.

Ilaria Salis’ immunity astatine risk

Ilaria Salis’ lawsuit could beryllium much risky.

The Italian lawmaker was arrested successful February 2023 successful Budapest connected the sidelines of an anti-fascist objection held connected the alleged Day of Honour, a neo-Nazi gathering successful Europe, wherever she was accused of assaulting and beating two far-right militants.

At the time, Salis was a teacher and quality rights activistic who had spent time squatting in Northern Italy. She spent much than 15 months successful pre-trial detention successful Hungary, claiming to person suffered highly harsh conditions and violations of quality rights.

The footage of her being led to the proceedings successful chains and her denunciations of mistreatment successful Hungarian prisons sparked outrage successful Italy, starring the authorities to summon Hungary's ambassador ,and Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni raised the issue with Hungary’s Viktor Orbán.

Thanks to a fashionable mobilisation, Salis was elected to the European Parliament successful June 2024 with the Alliance Greens-Left (AVS) party, joining The Left radical and regaining her state done parliamentary immunity.

Hungarian instrumentality allows elected MEPs to instrumentality their seat, but a fewer months aft the election, the Hungarian authorities asked the European Parliament to assistance her immunity successful bid to reason the trial. Should this happen, Salis would hazard being detained again.

“In Budapest I would look a amusement trial, without the astir basal antiauthoritarian safeguards, successful a state wherever the judiciary is not autarkic and the caput of authorities has already declared my guilt adjacent earlier the first-instance verdict. For charges considered insignificant elsewhere, I could beryllium sentenced to 24 years of hard prison,” she said successful a enactment up of the vote.

Last week, Zoltan Kovacs, planetary spokesperson of Hungary’s Orbán, posted on X the geographical coordinates of Márianosztra Prison, suggesting this is the spot wherever MEP Salis should extremity up.

According to Parliament sources, successful this case, the EPP could enactment the immunity waiver request, voting with the right-wing European Conservatives and Reformists (ECR) and the far-right Patriots for Europe (PfE). 

Klára Dobrev is besides nether scrutiny

Socialist MEP Klára Dobrev is besides astatine the centre of a ineligible contention successful Hungary. She was accused successful March 2024 of the transgression of nationalist defamation, for having claimed that a section authoritative was progressive successful a paedophilia ungraded that led to the downfall of Hungary’s President Katalin Novák and Justice Minister Judit Varga. Hungarian authorities asked the Parliament to assistance her immunity a twelvemonth ago.

MEP Tineke Strik from the Greens/EFA group, rapporteur for the Rule of Law concern successful Hungary, claims that each the requests enactment guardant by the Hungarian judiciary are politically motivated.

“The regularisation of instrumentality is not respected astatine each successful Hungary. Judicial bodies similar the Prosecutor’s bureau and the Supreme Court are wholly captured [by the governmental power]. So, adjacent if the judges of archetypal lawsuit present a judgement successful bully faith, the authorities could get what it wants astatine a higher level,” she told Euronews.

Polish far-right MEPs assertion 'political revenge'

The 2 MEPs from PiS who are nether scrutiny besides assertion governmental information down the requests to waive their immunity.

Michał Dworczyk was the unfortunate of a cyberattack in 2021, erstwhile helium was caput of the furniture of erstwhile Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki, with his backstage inbox hacked and leaked online.

After the alteration astatine the helm successful Warsaw, the caller Prosecutor General and Minister of Justice Adam Bodnar concluded that successful the cyberattack, Dworczyk failed to fulfil obligations arsenic a authorities official, acting to the detriment of the nationalist interest, and obstructing transgression proceedings, by “using an uncertified and unsecured backstage email container for conducting correspondence”.

Minister Bodnar besides asked for MEP Daniel Obajtek’s immunity to beryllium lifted. Obajtek is accused of giving mendacious grounds successful tribunal and of unlawfully restricting the organisation of the left-wing mag Nie at state stations belonging to Orlen, the multinational lipid refiner that helium was presiding implicit arsenic CEO.

“The screen [of that magazine] desecrated the cross, and I would person made the aforesaid determination careless of whether it offended the spiritual feelings of Christians, Muslims, oregon Jews. The Polish prosecutor's bureau wants to portion maine of my immunity, conscionable due to the fact that I opposed offending spiritual feelings. It's hard not to telephone this governmental revenge,” helium told Euronews.