Legal proceedings can start as former MEP Szájer sends back diplomatic passport

Until Szájer is in diplomatic or parliamentary immunity, the Belgian criminal proceedings for suspected drug abuse cannot start. According to the Foreign Ministry, Szájer is sending back his diplomatic passport.

József Szájer resigned from his MEP position after being caught fleeing from a sex party in Brussels through a drain pipe with bleeding hands. The party violated the Belgian coronavirus restrictions, and the police found drugs in the politician’s bag.

According to Blikk, Szájer is officially not a Member of the European Parliament since 2 January. The politician left his office, cards and computers. Since the scandal surfaced on 1 December, he has not been participating in the parliament’s tasks, and his former works were cancelled too. He completely disappeared from the public; no one has seen him in Brussels, Strasbourg, Sopron, or Budapest.

After his mandate in parliament is over, he no longer has diplomatic immunity, so his criminal liability can be discussed now. For drug abuse, he can be punished with imprisonment between 3 and 5 years, and a fine between 8 thousand and 800 thousand EUR. The Belgian prosecutor’s office did not provide any further information on the case.

On the other hand, as a former MEP, Szájer also owns a Hungarian diplomatic passport, and for a long time, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Hungary did not let the public know whether he could keep his diplomatic passport after his resignation or not. The newspaper has just received an answer saying that Szájer informed them that he is sending back his diplomatic passport – although it is unknown when it will happen.

If Szájer kept his diplomatic passport, the Belgian prosecutor’s office could not initiate the legal proceeding, as an international lawyer told the newspaper. “A diplomatic passport equals diplomatic immunity. If the state the person receives the passport from does not take it back, the given person is untouchable.”

But Szájer’s right to own the diplomatic passport expires anyways after his mandate is over – after that he can only possess a paper like this with permission from the Foreign Minister, in highly justified cases.

Source: Blikk