(MENAFN- Trend News Agency) The European Parliament (EP) on Thursday voted to waive the
immunity of two lawmakers following a request from Belgian judicial
authorities investigating a major corruption scandal rocking the
European Union (EU) assembly, trend reports citing xinhua .
The EP said that its members had backed the decision to waive
the immunities of Italian Member of Parliament (MEP) Andrea
Cozzolino and Belgian lawmaker Marc Tarabella.
By a show of hands, MEPs endorsed the proposal adopted by the
Legal Affairs Committee on Tuesday.
Once the decision is formally communicated to both MEPs and the
requesting authorities, the procedure to strip the two members of
their parliamentary immunity would have been completed.
European Parliament President Roberta Metsola started the
procedure on Jan. 16 after receiving requests from the competent
authorities in Belgium as part of an inquiry by the Belgian Federal
Public Prosecutor's Office.
Cozzolino and Tarabella have denied wrongdoing and
self-suspended their membership of Parliament's Socialists and
Democrats (S&D) group.
Eva Kaili, who was stripped of her role as EP vice president,
has already been charged over the alleged bribery scandal.
Prosecutors accuse the Greek Socialist MEP of corruption,
membership in a criminal organization and money laundering.
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