Poland's parliament has voted to remove the immunity from prosecution of a lawmaker who used a fire extinguisher to put out Hanukkah candles in the country's parliament in December, Reuters reported on Wednesday.
The vote opens the way for prosecutors to press charges against the lawmaker, Grzegorz Braun from the far-right Confederation party, for seven acts committed during 2022 and 2023, including the incident involving the candles.
"There is no reason to protect him using immunity... We know what he did and it was not acceptable," said Agnieszka Pomaska, a lawmaker from the largest grouping in Poland's coalition government, Civic Coalition (KO).
The largest opposition party, the nationalist law and Justice (PiS), also voted in favor of removing Braun's immunity, according to Reuters.
Warsaw District Prosecutor Mariusz Dubowski had told a parliamentary committee that Braun would face charges including destruction of property, violation of bodily integrity and insulting objects of religious worship, the state-run news agency PAP reported.
After extinguishing the candles in the parliament on December 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 replied, "Those who take part in acts of satanic worship should be ashamed."
The incident caused an uproar both in Poland and abroad. A poll taken after the incident found that 63% of Poles believe Braun should no longer serve as an MP, while 23% said he should remain in his seat and 14% said they do not have an opinion on the matter.
Braun responded to Wednesday’s move and said the prosecutor's accusations against him were "inconsistent with the actual situation and the material truth".