Belgium drops push to lift MEP's immunity in Huawei case
Belgium drops push to lift MEP's immunity in Huawei case
Belgian authorities have withdrawn a request for the European parliament to lift the immunity of an Italian deputy in a graft probe involving Chinese tech giant Huawei, the parliament said Thursday.
Centre-right lawmaker Giusi Princi had insisted she was a victim of "mistaken identity" after prosecutors targeted her with four other MEPs as part of a corruption investigation.
Princi said she was accused of attending a meeting last June that she did not participate in, for on that day she was in Italy for her daughter's end-of-year school play.
The Belgian climbdown came just a day after parliament chief Roberta Metsola publicly named the five lawmakers facing requests to have their immunity lifted.
Metsola's office confirmed the "withdrawal of the request to lift MEP Princi's immunity."
The lawmaker said in a social media post that the u-turn had come in "record time".
"I am relieved that in less than 24 hours the prosecutor's office backtracked, acknowledging my complete lack of involvement in the Huaweigate case," Princi wrote.
The corruption scandal the second to rock the EU body in recent years erupted in March after police staged raids in Belgium and Portugal.
Investigators suspect Huawei lobbyists of offering gifts to lawmakers who would defend its interests in Brussels.
Eight people have been charged on counts including corruption, money laundering and participating in a criminal organisation.
Four other MEPs Maltese socialist Daniel Attard, Bulgarian centrist Nikola Minchev, and centre-right Italians Salvatore de Meo and Fulvio Martusciello still face having their parliamentary immunity lifted.
At least three of the lawmakers denied any wrongdoing.
Huawei has previously said it takes the graft allegations "seriously" and has "a zero-tolerance policy towards corruption".
The probe comes two years after EU lawmakers were accused of being paid to promote the interests of Qatar and Morocco allegations both countries deny.
bur-del/tw
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