Greek Member of the European Parliament for the neo-Nazi party Golden Dawn Ioannis Lagos was arrested in Brussels on Tuesday after a 658-24 vote of the European Parliament to lift his immunity with 10 abstentions. This came following a request for the waiver of his immunity by the Prosecutor at the Supreme Court of Greece with regard to possible criminal charges.

This comes following the Greek courts convicting 68 members of Golden Dawn for various crimes including murder and attempted murder. This was allowed to happen due to Golden Dawn failing to secure any seats in Parliament following the past election in 2019. Being one of three MEPs for Golden Dawn, he was able to evade a 13-year sentence to prison for leading or partaking in a criminal organization via his parliamentary protection by staying in Brussels.

Following his recent arrest, the MEP tweeted: “I am in a Belgian police car. Τhieves, atheists and anti-Greeks are sending me to prison. I remain faithful to Jesus Christ and Greece. I am proud to never have worshipped. HAIL GREECE AND HAIL THE ORTHODOX CHURCH”.

According to Greek media, he was planning to fly to Norway, a European non-member of the EU, to seek refuge.

The waiver of immunity shall not constitute guilt for Lagos but merely allows judicial authorities of Greece to take similar action. As MEPs are elected under national electoral law, it is up to Greece to inform the European Parliament of Lagos’ guilt so as to affect his dismissal. Until then, he retains the privileges of being an MEP, including salary, even as a prison inmate.