Colleagues target fiddle claim deputy

Date: 06/05/04

AUSTRIAN MEP Hans-Peter Martin has become the target of a hate campaign after accusing his fellow deputies of fiddling their expenses.

Martin says MEPs have taunted him by calling him "Judas" and subjected him to physical assault.

However, he says he feels vindicated for going public with his allegations after being "inundated" with more than 2,000 messages of support from the public.

A former investigative journalist, Martin came under fire this week from other members following his claim that up to 200 MEPs are pocketing allowances for European Parliament sessions they have not attended.

He incurred the wrath of many deputies by secretly filming and recording them signing for the €262 daily attendance allowance and then leaving the building.

Dutch Socialist MEP Michiel van Hulten has called on Martin to resign from the Campaign for Parliamentary Reform, which has long been fighting for reform of MEPs' expenses.

Van Hulten said: "We completely disassociate ourselves from the methods employed by Martin.

"We believe the rules on signing need strengthening but the dissemination of questionable information collected by even more questionable means is not the way to achieve reform."

But Martin claims he had to start "filming members because without evidence no one would have believed me".

The Austrian revealed that he has not claimed travel and attendance allowance for the past 18 months.

Parliament's President Pat Cox - whose name was on Martin's list - said last month there was no evidence to substantiate the Austrian's claims that MEPs are fiddling their expenses.

Hans-Peter Martin, the MEP who alleged that hundreds of his colleagues have unfairly claimed expenses, has become the target of a hate campaign. Other MEPs have called him 'Judas' and he has been physically assaulted.