25/10/2006 (Agence Europe) - Following the opinion of the legal committee and rapporteur, Austrian socialist Maria Berger, the European Parliament decided on Tuesday 24 October not to defend the immunity of the non-attached Italian MEP Mario Borghezio (Lega Nord), who is being prosecuted for defacing public property. During a demonstration following a court case in a terrorism matter, the MEP wrote the word “disgrace” using a can of spray-paint. The Parliament believes that there is no reason to conclude that the accusation against Mr Borghezio aims to impinge on his political activities. It can be assumed that any other Italian citizen who had carried out such actions with a can of spray-paint would, in similar circumstances, also have been prosecuted, the report says, adding that there is no obvious reason to think that the matter was too “trivial” to be prosecuted. (oj)