Poręba, one of the MEPs included in the motion, said that "it is tragic and sad that the EP has been legitimising a criminal with this motion."
Rafał Guz/PAP

A motion to lift the immunity of four Polish MEPs from Poland’s ruling Law and Justice (PiS) party has been sent to the European Parliament’s Committee on Legal Affairs, the EP president has said.

European Parliament President Roberta Metsola told an EP plenary session in Strasbourg on Monday that the motion concerns Tomasz Poręba, Beata Mazurek, Patryk Jaki and Beata Kempa.

The motion is the result of an indictment lodged by Rafał Gaweł, the founder of the Centre for Monitoring Racist and Xenophobic Behaviour, in connection with a PiS spot warning against the migration policy of its main political rival, the Civic Platform (PO).

Gaweł accused PiS politicians of having violated article 256 of the Polish Penal Code regarding the incitement of hatred on national, ethnic, racial or religious grounds, among other things.

In early February, Polish public television described Gaweł as a criminal who, “even when the PO was in power, had been charged with fraud, who left Poland after he was sentenced, and who has been sought by police since that moment.”

Poręba, one of the MEPs included in the motion, said that “it is tragic and sad that the EP has been legitimising a criminal with this motion.”

Poręba also criticised the court in Poland for considering “a wanted person” reliable and letting him take part in a trial.

“This is proof that the system of justice is politicised today,” Poręba said.