Polish MP cites parliamentary immunity to dodge speeding ticket
Polish MP and a member of the main opposition Law and Justice (PiS) party, Lukasz Mejza, has cited his parliamentary immunity to refuse a speeding ticket for driving at 200 km/h, while the government vows he will face legal consequences.
According to RMF FM radio, the politician was stopped by police on Monday on the S3 expressway in Dolnoslaskie province, Poland's southwest.
"The officers stopped the car driving at 200 km/h in an area with a 120 km/h limit," a spokesperson for the Polkowice Police Department told PAP on Tuesday. "He (the driver - PAP) refused to accept a speeding ticket, saying that he is secured by his parliamentary immunity," the officer reported, adding that the politician's fine was PLN 2,500 (EUR 586) and 15 penalty points.
PAP asked Mejza for a comment, which he delivered in a statement, acknowledging that he had "behaved inappropriately" and that "nothing justifies" such conduct.
"I didn't accept the ticket because I was in a rush to get to the airport, and the time needed to issue it would definitely make me late for the flight (in the end, I was late anyway)," the MP wrote.
Mejza pledged to pay the fine "immediately" if he had such a legal possibility. "If not, I will, of course, immediately waive my immunity and will face full responsibility because I'm a man of character, not like some (former Senate Speaker Tomasz - PAP) Grodzki, who would hide behind his immunity. I am sorry again," he added.
Marcin Kierwisnki, Minister of Internal Affairs and Administration, commented on the situation on Tuesday, issuing a post on X, writing: "We won't let it go. The police did their job. Mejza will answer for this barbaric rally."
Meanwhile, the ministry's spokesperson, Karolina Galecka, said police will address the Speaker of the Sejm, the lower house of parliament, Szymon Holownia, to strip Mejza of his immunity. The move would allow the authorities to bring criminal charges against the politician.
"The law applies to all of us," she added. (PAP)
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