EU parliament strips far-right Belgian MEP of immunity

(STRASBOURG) - The European Parliament on Tuesday stripped a far-right Belgian MEP of his immunity from prosecution so that he can be tried on racism charges.

Frank Vanhecke, of the Flemish nationalist party Vlaams Belang, is accused by Freddy Willockx, a Belgian town mayor, over a 2005 Vlaams Belang pamphlet distributed in his town, Saint-Nicolas, which accused "foreigners" of desecrating cemeteries.

The text in question said that "a culture which has no respect for the dead or for the symbols of a different faith is a delinquent culture".

The parliament noted that four local Flemish youths had subsequently been identified as the perpetrators of the crime in the town in Belgium's Dutch-speaking northern region of Flanders.

The European Parliament rejected Vanhecke's argument that he was the victim of a political witch-hunt.

Vanhecke, who was leader of Vlaams Belang at the time, said he was not the author of the article in question, though he was the publication's editor.

If found guilty of racism he could lose his parliamentary seat.

The European Parliament, a strong advocate of freedom of expression, only rarely lifts euro deputies' immunity over political statements.

Here they decided that the parliamentary privileges do not extend to his editorial duties.

Vlaams Belang (Flemish Interest) is a successor to Vlaams Blok (Flemish bloc), a party which was disbanded after being found guilty of racism in 2004.

The party supports independence for Belgium's northern region of Flanders, and won 24 percent of the regional vote in elections in June 2004.