27/04/2021 (Agence Europe) – The European Parliament, by a large majority (658 votes in favour, 25 against and 10 abstentions), lifted on Tuesday 27 April the immunity of Greek MEP Ioannis Lagos, former leader of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, who was sentenced in October by the justice of his country to 13 years in prison for leadership and membership of a criminal organisation. “It was imperative for the European Union to lift the immunity of Ioannis Lagos so that he could face justice in his country”, Marie Toussaint (Greens/EFA, France), Parliament’s rapporteur on the case, said in a press release. Several members of this neo-Nazi party have already been convicted of violence against left-wing organisations and migrants, as well as for the murder of an anti-fascist musician. “Beyond the case of Mr Lagos, all over Europe, we must show the greatest intransigence in the face of hate speech and the extreme violence that it gives rise to”, added Mrs Toussaint. (MF)