The European Parliament voted on Tuesday to lift the immunity of the Italian MEP Fulvio Martusciello, who is part of an investigation by Belgian prosecutors on alleged corruption and illicit lobbying by Chinese tech company Huawei.
In the secret-ballot vote on Tuesday, 344 MEPs voted in favour of lifting his immunity, while 234 were against and 25 abstained.
Martusciello, a member of the European People’s Party (EPP), is believed to have been the promoter of a letter signed by eight MEPs in 2021, urging the EU Commission not ban the use of foreign 5G devices on the grounds of national security risks.
While the letter did not directly mention Huawei, prosecutors allege it could have been an attempt to influence EU policy according to the Chinese company’s interests.
A corrupt network led by Huawei lobbyist Valerio Ottati allegedly paid MEPs to support it. An EU Parliament official told Euronews that Martusciello wrote the letter and that his office tried to convince other fellow MEPs from the same delegation to sign it.
