EU Parliament asked to lift immunity of German far-right MEP accused of baseball‑bat attack on teen

The European Parliament has received a request to waive the immunity of a German far-right MEP to allow his prosecution for allegedly drink-driving and violently assaulting a minor with a baseball bat. Parliament president Roberta Metsola confirmed having received a request to waive immunity of Arno Bausemer, of the Europe of Sovereign Nations hard-right group who is also the Alternative for Germany treasurer for Saxony-Anhalt, on Wednesday (11 November), so that east German region can prosecute him. Bausemer is accused of attacking a 14-year-old with a baseball bat during the state’s election campaign in August. He admitted to having “caught the teenager red-handed”, who he said was vandalising AfD campaign posters, and that he used a baseball bat. “A suspected blunt weapon was allegedly used,” the Saxony-Anhalt State Criminal Police Office (LKA) confirmed. A few days later, the MEP was stopped at a traffic control, where a blood sample reportedly showed an alcohol level of one gram per litre – double the allowed limit in Germany. Parliamentary immunity is in place so that MEPs can “truly perform their mandate independently,” without fear of unjustified legal action, Wouter Wolfs, politics researcher at the KU Leuven, told EUobserver. Parliamentary immunity guarantees MEPs will not be detained because of their opinions or how they voted, but also for offences they may be accused of. It protects politicians from legal battles designed to distract their attention from their parliamentary duties. The only exception is when they were caught in the act - though what that means is sometimes disputed. Currently, the immunity of 10 MEPs is under review in the European parliament, for offences ranging from a labour dispute to holocaust denial. In some recent cases, the parliament kept MEPs immunity on “rather doubtful grounds,” Wolfs said, namely when their political allies protected them, but in essence, MEPs most often end up being put on trial. The trouble with the immunity provision, German Green MEP Daniel Freund told EUobserver, is that it takes a long time to actually waive it, “undermining both parliament’s credibility and the principle that everyone is equal before the law.” In most cases, the time between receiving a complaint by the parliament’s legal affairs committee - tasked with immunity waivers - and a plenary vote deciding on the matter is about five months, but up to a year in some cases. Wolfs said he would expect the parliament to waive Bausemer’s immunity, so that the proceedings against him in his case may resume.