Poland’s parliament has received a second request to lift the immunity of a serving MP as part of a European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) corruption investigation linked to an EU-funded tram modernisation project in the Upper Silesian-Zaglebie Metropolis.
The request was submitted on 29 July under the procedures set out in the EPPO Regulation and Polish law, and seeks permission to bring criminal proceedings and to authorise the MP’s detention and pre-trial detention over suspected trading in influence, the EPPO announced on Friday.
New suspicions have emerged in the investigation that the MP accepted financial benefits in exchange for arranging favourable outcomes for several companies.
Searches were carried out on 21 July at private residences and company premises by Poland’s Central Anti-Corruption Bureau.
Two people suspected of offering financial benefits to the MP were arrested during those searches and a court ordered their pre-trial detention for three months.
What the EPPO is and what happens next
The EPPO said the second request is a procedural step needed to pursue the additional alleged facts under Article 29 of the EPPO Regulation, which sets out how immunity issues are handled in its cases.
Everyone concerned is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in Polish courts, the organisation said.
The EPPO is an independent EU prosecution office responsible for investigating and prosecuting crimes affecting the EU’s financial interests.
