Labour MEP Claudette Abela Baldacchino will not invoke parliamentary immunity to evade prosecution over fraud charges, she confirmed yesterday.

I stood for election out of loyalty to constituents

In a press statement, Ms Abela Baldacchino said she was determined to prove her innocence through the natural course of justice.

“I will not seek immunity, never thought about it and I declare that I will renounce it,” she said.

Ms Abela Baldacchino, now a member of the Prime Minister’s secretariat, said she submitted her nomination for last week’s casual election “out of loyalty to constituents” who voted for her in 2009.

This was well before the allegations were made against her, she added.

Together with five other local councillors and two directors of a travel agency, she was last year charged with involvement in a fraudulent scam against the European Commission amounting to €96,000.

An OLAF investigation had concluded that councillors claimed higher travel fares to Brussels than they actually paid and then pocketed the difference.

The EU anti-fraud organisation said the councillors, who are pleading not guilty, claimed the flights cost them €599 when they actually paid €466.

European Parliament rules lay down that MEPs shall not be subject to any form of inquiry, detention or legal proceedings during their tenure as MEPs.

However, MEPs can be stripped of their immunity on the request of the national authorities, the Government or the judicial authorities, in Malta’s case.