The plenary session of the European Parliament is expected on Monday 26 April to waive the immunity of Greek MEP Giannis Lagos, who was convicted in October for directing the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party as a “criminal organisation”.
Lagos was sentenced on 7 October to 13 years in prison for directing Golden Dawn, a far-right party which has been linked to a number of acts of political violence.
Taking advantage of his immunity as an MEP, he left Greece for Brussels on the day of the verdict to escape arrest.
The EU spokesperson added that in case the parliament votes in favour of lifting the MEP’s immunity, the President David Sassoli will inform the Greek authorities about this outcome immediately.
The Greek authorities will then issue an international arrest warrant for Lagos. If he is apprehended in Belgium, police there will arrest him unless he decides to go back to Greece and surrender.
It is not clear if the Greek authorities have informed the Belgian police about the upcoming lifting of Lagos’ immunity in order to prevent him from fleeing the EU.
Lagos’ colleague Christos Pappas, who was also convicted, has so far avoided arrest by fleeing the bloc for an unknown destination.
