The European Parliament waives the parliamentary immunity of Nil UshakovArtrjoms Konohovs
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Retains the mandate of an MEP
The majority @Europarl_LV MEPs have supported @nilsusakovs waiver of legal immunity. I’ll tell you more about that in a moment @LRZinas
– Artjoms Konohovs (@ArtjomsKonohovs) November 11, 2021
MEPs voted by show of hands, so the exact number of votes in favor and against is unknown. In cases where the majority is not obvious, electronic voting may be required. This time it was not necessary.
The majority of MEPs elected from Latvia promised support the waiver of the immunity of Ushakov.
The vote in plenary was the culmination of a long process. Prior to that, the waiver of parliamentary immunity quite carefully evaluated Members of the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs. Several sittings were held in camera.
The final report shows that MEPs wanted to make sure that the case against Ushakov was not an attempt to obstruct his political activities in the European Parliament. But as the alleged violations are related to the time when Ushakov was still the mayor of Riga, the majority concluded that the immunity could be waived.
Following the waiver of his immunity, Ushakov retains his mandate as an MEP,
because they have been granted to him by the Latvian state as a Member of the European Parliament and cannot be taken away by any other institution.
Such requests for the waiver of parliamentary immunity are frequently received by the EP, for example, during the last parliamentary term, the EP was asked to waive parliamentary immunity 55 times, and in 49 cases the EP granted these requests.
Ushakov hopes to prove his truth
Nils Ušakovs on the waiver of parliamentary immunityArtrjoms Konohovs
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The case is related to a banned device that was found in Ushakov’s office when he was still mayor of Riga.
The prosecutor’s office wants to prosecute Nils Ušakovs because the Bureau for the Prevention and Combating of Corruption believes that Ušakovs once stored a device of strategic importance in his office of the Riga Mayor – a hidden video recording device that is prohibited for individuals.
On the other hand, the deputy’s lawyer has already stated that Ušakovs is the victim rather than the culprit in this case.
Even now, Ushakov claims that he is not to blame and does not know how this self-adhesive photo album with a built-in video camera could have ended up in one of the drawers where various official gifts were stored.
The MEP hopes that he will soon be able to prove himself true in public. “I myself have voted in favor. I have also called on my colleagues to vote in the same way. I will speak and joke with my colleagues before the vote, because they will see what the story is about. I have described what is suspected and what the whole investigation is about.
Honestly, in this case, the waiver of immunity is the way to complete this investigation, “commented Ushakov.
Ushakov added that not even his fingerprints were found on the device or album. “Imagine that I could use a self-adhesive with a built-in internal camera and a special power cord – that sounds comical. People who have been to the Riga City Council know that video surveillance cameras with all the relevant warnings and advertisements are officially installed in each office, ”Ušakovs pointed out.
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