WARSAW (Reuters) - Poland's parliament has voted to remove the immunity from prosecution of a lawmaker who used a fire extinguisher to put out Jewish Hanukkah candles in the country's parliament in December, an incident that caused international outrage.
The vote opens the way for prosecutors to press charges against Grzegorz Braun from the far-right Confederation party for seven acts committed during 2022 and 2023, including the incident involving the candles.
The largest opposition party, the nationalist law and Justice (PiS), also voted in favour of removing Braun's immunity.
After extinguishing the candles in the parliament on Dec. 12, Braun took to the podium where he described Hanukkah as "satanic" and said he was restoring "normality".
Asked later if he was ashamed of his action, he said: "Those who take part in acts of satanic worship should be ashamed."
Persons:
Grzegorz Braun, Agnieszka Pomaska, Mariusz Dubowski, Braun, Alan Charlish, Gareth Jones
Organizations:
Civic Coalition, Warsaw, European Union
Locations:
WARSAW, Ukraine