Brussels, 02/12/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Thursday 1 December, the European Parliament rejected two requests made by Viktor Uspaskich (ALDE, Lithuania) to reinstate his parliamentary immunity against criminal proceedings in the Vilnius Regional Criminal Court over alleged false accounting offences. Uspaskich had argued that the prosecution was politically motivated and that the lifting of his immunity had prevented him from performing his parliamentary duties.
Uspaskich declared that new facts had come to light, published by WikiLeaks, which justified reinstatement of his immunity. According to Uspaskich, it can be inferred from a diplomatic note put online by WikiLeaks that his trial for false accounting is politically motivated. The Parliament nonetheless took the view that there is no connection between the statement allegedly made by the Lithuanian Foreign Affairs Ministry and the legal proceedings and thus no justification for the claim that there is political persecution against Uspaskich. Furthermore, the Parliament said that the second claim made by Viktor Uspaskich, that the restrictions imposed by the Lithuanian authorities on his freedom of movement as a result of the lifting of his European parliamentary immunity was unfounded, as this immunity “has the function of protecting members against restrictions on their freedom of movement, other than judicial restrictions” and “does not protect against judicial restrictions on members' freedom of movement”. On these grounds, the Parliament decided not to defend the MEP's immunity. (LC/transl.jl)