Belgian MEP faces charges of forgery

By Leen Van Parys

Date: 07/10/04

GERARD Deprez, a Belgian member of the European Parliament and vice-president of the Walloon liberals, MR (Reform Movement), has been indicted on charges of forgery.

The indictment dates from March this year, but was kept secret until the newspaper La Libre Belgique revealed it this week. He has since stepped down as vice-president of the MR, but has no intention of doing so as an MEP, said a spokeswoman for the party.

As the indictment was not revealed until now, Deprez, an MEP since 1984, faced no difficulty in being re-elected in the June poll. He is a member of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe (ALDE) group and, as an MEP, is entitled to Parliamentary immunity. He cannot be forced to step down unless his immunity is waived at the request of another MEP or a government. Isabelle de Crayencourt, for ALDE, said: "Until guilt is proven, he is still considered innocent."

The accusation goes back to the early nineties when Deprez was president of the Walloon centre-right PSC (now CDH). Several officials working for the party were registered as cabinet members for federal or regional ministers and were paid with public money.

Deprez has never denied he practiced the system of so-called cabinet ghosts, which was common among Belgian political parties and was allegedly sanctioned by senior party figures such as Philippe Maystadt (now president of the European Investment Bank) and Melchior Wathelet (until recently a judge at the European Court of Justice).

Deprez admitted in 1996 the existence of cabinet ghosts at the PSC on Belgian television. A Brussels magistrate immediately started an investigation.

• Leen Van Parys is a Brussels-based freelance journalist.

Gerard Deprez, a Belgian member of the European Parliament and vice-president of the Walloon liberals, MR (Reform Movement), was indicted on charges of forgery in March 2004, which was only revealed in October 2004.