Between a rock and a hard place

Members of the European Parliament were faced with what many found a distasteful choice on Tuesday: between Hans-Peter Martin and Martin Ehrenhauser (pictured).

Martin is the Austrian journalist turned MEP who filmed his fellow MEPs claiming their daily allowances and then jumping on the next train or plane out of town.

Ehrenhauser, who used to work for Martin, was elected to the Parliament on the Hans-Peter Martin list, then fell out with his former master.

The vote on Tuesday (23 October) was on the question of whether to lift Ehrenhauser's parliamentary immunity at the request of the Vienna public prosecutor.

The prosecutor is investigating a complaint from Martin that “between the latter part of the summer of 2010 and April 2011”, Ehrenhauser hacked into Martin's private email and copied and printed data. MEPs held their noses and voted to lift Ehrenhauser's immunity.