MEPs vote to uphold Daniel Attard's parliamentary immunity over Huawei probe
Three MEPs had their immunity upheld, with a fourth having his lifted
The European Parliament has voted to retain Daniel Attard’s parliamentary immunity, in the latest development in the Huawei bribery probe.
Two other MEPs also had their immunity upheld, while a fourth, the head of the Italian EPP delegation Fulvio Martusciello, had his lifted.
The vote took place on Tuesday afternoon by show of hands, while that of Martusciello was taken by secret ballot.
Earlier this month, the rapporteur of the European Parliament’s legal affairs committee had pushed for the immunity of all MEPs, except that of Attard, to be lifted.
Politico reported that the recommendation was overturned following political horse-trading among the parliament’s different political groupings.
The committee eventually recommended that, aside from Attard, the immunity of Italian EPP member Salvatore De Meo and Bulgarian Renew member Nikola Minchev also be maintained.
In its report on Attard, the committee described the "flagrant scarcity of concrete elements" in the request presented by prosecutors. Further discussions with prosecutors had failed to assuage the "considerable uncertainty as to the various elements contained in the request".
Probe emerged last year
The four MEPs were first linked to the affair just over a year ago, when Belgian prosecutors kicked off a probe into whether Chinese tech giant Huawei sought to buy influence among EU legislators through gifts.
Investigators believed Attard may have been involved after it emerged he had attended a football match at the Anderlecht stadium at the invitation of a Huawei lobbyist who was under investigation.
Belgian police also initially flagged a series of suspicious payments between individuals in China and Hong Kong and a bank account seemingly held in Attard’s name.
However, it later emerged that prosecutors had confused Attard with his namesake, Għasri mayor Daniel Attard. The latter is a lawyer who previously assisted clients in applying for Malta’s golden passport scheme, with the flagged payments believed to be linked to that work.
The EP's rule of law committee said the case of mistaken identity "further exacerbated the serious doubts surrounding the line of argument underlying the initial request" filed by prosecutors.
Tuesday’s vote effectively means that prosecutors will be unable to access email records, phone logs and other material to build their case related to Attard, De Meo and Minchev.
However, they will be able to forge ahead with the case against Martusciello, now that his parliamentary immunity has been lifted.
Martusciello is suspected of having moved amendments to a draft resolution in 2021 that favoured Huawei over the rollout of 5G. He is also alleged to have been paid to draft a letter sent to three EU Commissioners in an effort to influence their approach to the topic.
When the case first emerged last year, Attard had asked for his immunity to be lifted, saying he wanted to clear his name.
He has maintained his innocence throughout the affair, saying he was unaware that the invitation to the football match had originated from Huawei. He said it had reached him through his Hungarian parliamentary assistant.
After it emerged that prosecutors had confused him with the Għasri mayor, Attard’s lawyers had written to Belgian prosecutors asking for them to remove him from the probe altogether and withdraw the request to lift his immunity.
Following a similar prosecutorial blunder early in the case, Belgian police had withdrawn a request to lift the immunity of a fifth MEP they initially believed to be linked to the probe. Prosecutors had filed the request against Italian MEP Giusy Princi, only to later discover that she was not yet an MEP at the time of her alleged meeting with a Huawei lobbyist.
Attard slams 'rush to judge' before facts emerge
In comments to Times of Malta, Attard described the vote as "food for thought for all those in Malta who rush to judge before looking at the facts".
"Had I followed the logic of the Nationalist Party, Repubblika and their coterie, I would have resigned and buried myself politically before the truth ever came out," Attard said, adding that "facts matter. Verification matters".
"I'm not expecting any apologies as that would require a sense of decency. Turns out the only thing guilty here was their rush to judge," he said.