UKIP MEP threatened with arrest for telling truth to European Parliament

[Return of the redi]

UKIP MEP threatened with arrest for telling truth to European Parliament

UKIP MEP Nigel Farage, the co-president of the Independence & Democracy Group in the European Parliament, was this morning threatened with legal action by the Parliamentâ??s President for telling the truth about the French Commissioner designate, Jacques Barrot.

Mr Farage had asked fellow MEPs whether they would â??buy a used car from this manâ??, when he revealed that M. Barrot had received an 8 month suspended sentence and was barred from elected office in France for 2 years, after being convicted in 2000 of embezzling FFR 25m (US$ 3.8m) from government funds by diverting it into the coffers of his party.

French President Jacques Chirac subsequently granted M Barrot a presidential amnesty, making it illegal under French law to even mention the conviction. However, Mr Farage felt it was proper that MEPs were informed of the past of the Vice President designate, and used his speech in the Strasbourg chamber to do so.

Many French MEPs were not aware of the conviction, as in compliance with French law it was totally censored from the French media.

The President of the European Parliament, Spaniard Josep Borrell, warned Mr Farage that he should withdraw his remarks, as he may face â??legal consequencesâ??. Mr Farage, who in theory enjoys Parliamentary immunity while speaking in the chamber, refused to do so, and was, amazingly, condemned by other MEPs for telling the truth.

Mr Farage said, â??Yesterday, the Court of Auditors refused to sign off the EUâ??s accounts for the 10th year in a row, because 93.5% of the EUâ??s expenditure was, in their words, â??unsafe or riddled with errorsâ??.

â??Today, the European Parliament is prepared to overlook the conviction of a senior member of the Commission for embezzling government funds, and is prepared instead to threaten with arrest the person who reveals it.

â??What clearer indication can there possibly be of the corruption and hypocrisy which pervades the entire European project from the lowest to the highest levels?â?� ENDS

Return of the redi Reviewed by Return of the redi on 11-20-2004. UKIP MEP threatened with arrest for telling truth to European Parliament UKIP MEP threatened with arrest for telling truth to European Parliament UKIP MEP Nigel Farage, the co-president of the Independence & Democracy Group in the European Parliament, was this morning threatened with legal action by the Parliamentâ??s President for telling the truth about the French Commissioner designate, Jacques Barrot. Mr Farage had asked fellow MEPs whether they would â??buy a used car from this manâ??, when he revealed that M. Barrot had received an 8 month suspended Rating: 5

[mr chinnery]

Man this makes me fuckin sick. Politicians are all so morally bankrupt. Good on the guy who stood his ground though.