Strasbourg, 01/07/2003 (Agence Europe) - Adopting the report by German Christian Democrat Klaus-Heiner Lehne, the European Parliament refused to lift the immunity of the German Green MEP elected in France, Daniel Cohn-Bendit, in a case concerning aid he gave at the end of the 70s and early 80s to the terrorist Hans-Joachim Klein. Cohn-Bendit admitted helping Klein from 1978-1982 with the aim of getting him to abandon terrorism.
During a short debate, the rapporteur pointed out that the Legal Committee had unanimously concluded that his immunity should not be lifted. One of the reasons given was the fact that the case by a court in Frankfurt was launched following a complaint by a member of the Hesse Landtag although the alleged infraction had been known about 1978 and this type of crime tends to be automatically prosecuted in Germany. The Legal Committee points out that other people involved are not being taken to court, and emphasises that the next European elections will be held very shortly, in 2004.