EP Legal Affairs Committee recommends to waive immunity of MEP Nils Usakovs

RIGA - The European Parliament (EP) Legal Affairs Committee recommends to waive the immunity of MEP Nils Usakovs (Harmony), LETA learned from the EP.

The final decision should be made by the EP, and the parliament will vote on this issue in November.

Usakovs told LETA that he thanks all Legal Affairs Committee members and the rapporteur for a highly professional approach.

As reported, the Corruption Prevention Bureau (KNAB) has turned to the Prosecutor General's Office with a request to begin prosecution against former Riga mayor and current European Parliament Member Usakovs for possession of a banned video surveillance device.

Although the KNAB now did not mention Usakov's name directly, last year the bureau reported that while conducting procedural activities in a separate criminal case, the KNAB found and removed a device to be used for special operational activities from Usakovs' office.

Usakovs himself previosly posted on his Facebook account that the removed device was a "some sort of self-made recording device" that was on the shelf. "As I understood from the description, it is a glued album with a built-in camera and microphone," Usakovs explained. He claimed that the presence of the device in his office was a surprise to him.

The KNAB initiated the Usakovs video surveillance device case on October 7, 2019, separating it from the Rigas Satiksme vehicle procurement case.