EU parliament may be asked to lift immunity for new MEP

Parliament is expected to be asked to waive the immunity from prosecution of newly-elected Romanian MEP Gigi Becali.

It comes after Becali, one of the country's most flamboyant politicians, was barred from taking his seat in parliament because he is facing a police inquiry.

Becali, a former shepherd who made a fortune in land deals, is accused of attacking thieves who stole his car. Judges upheld a travel ban imposed on him while the case is investigated.

He says he intends to travel to Strasbourg next month (14 July)  for the first session of the new parliament and has challenged the Romanian authorities to arrest him there.
 
Becali, who owns Romania's biggest football club Steaua Bucharest, got into trouble with the police earlier this year when a group of thieves stole his car and demanded a ransom for its return.

He initially paid the ransom, but the thieves claim they were then trapped, roughed up and dumped outside Bucharest by Becali's men. The thieves took their complaint to the police, and Becali was arrested.

He announced his candidacy for parliament from his prison cell - though he has since been freed.  At the weekend, he won a seat for the nationalist Greater Romania Party.

Becali - who is sometimes described as a Robin Hood figure in Romania - said he would travel to Strasbourg regardless of the judge's ruling.

A parliament spokesman told this website they were still waiting to hear from the Romanian authorities.

"MEPs enjoy free movement throughout the EU and it is up to the authorities there to ask parliament to waive his immunity from prosecution," he said.

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