Belgian authorities ask for immunity of Greek MEP to be waived over sexual harassment claim

Belgian authorities have requested that the immunity of Alexis Georgoulis, the popular Greek actor who was elected as a member of the European Parliament with SYRIZA, be waived. 

The request is over a case of alleged sexual harassment that dates back three years ago, Euronews understands. 

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola made the announcement at the start of the plenary session in Strasbourg on Monday. 

“I received a request from the competent Belgian authorities to lift the parliamentary immunity of Alexis Georgoulis. The request is referred to the legal affairs committee,” Metsola said.

Georgoulis, from the Left group, denied the allegation as a “false and slanderous complaint” in a statement. 

“In the face of this false and insulting attack, which is carried out – probably not by chance – a few days before the national elections, I intend to fight my battle in justice, for the truth and the restoration of my name, requesting the removal of my MEP immunity.

“In this context and because I do not at all want to influence the fight that SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance is fighting, at all levels, with a purely personal issue, I am placing myself at the disposal of the party’s organs and submitting my resignation as a member of the party as well as from the Eurogroup of SYRIZA-PS,” he added. 

The SYRIZA-PS party had earlier announced it was expulsing Georgoulis “after having been informed regarding the case and given the need for the case to be fully investigated.”