Belgian police request European Parliament remove MEP Jaak Madison's immunity

Police in Belgium have requested the European Parliament lift the parliamentary immunity of MEP Jaak Madison (Center).
Madison himself confirmed this on his social media account, writing: "It is often said that a lie can travel round the world before the truth has done up its shoelaces."
"Sometimes, it takes quite a long time to get its boots on. The parliament received a 'confidential' letter stating that Belgium wants to revoke my parliamentary immunity," he continued.
"This is needed so that they can investigate the false accusations made against me in spring 2024, just ahead of the European elections, which were parlayed into a media scandal in order to damage my reputation," he added.
"As I stated 10 months ago, and again now, the accusations made against me are a slander, intended to harm my chances of being elected to the European Parliament. The malicious plan backfired. In spring, with my lawyer, we filed a claim for damages over these false accusations, and that court case should conclude in the coming months," Madison added.
"However, why did the Belgian side not contact me earlier and is only now initiating an investigation ten months after the false complaint? I have been told that such a pace of proceedings is not unusual for Belgium. I hope this is indeed the case, and that the interests of some political rival are not behind this, trying to breathe life into an unpleasant topic ahead of the upcoming local elections," he stated.
"I am under no illusions that tabloid journalism will do its 'best' to milk the last drops out of last year's scandal," the MEP concluded.
Madison told ERR that, as this is a legal dispute, his lawyer, Joonas Põder, will be providing further comment on the matter.
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Editor: Aleksander Krjukov, Andrew Whyte