Greek Parliament lifts immunity of 11 far-right lawmakers
The Supreme Court of Greece (Areios Pagos) has voted in parliament to lift the immunity of 11 members of parliament from the Spartans Party, who were suspected of committing illegalities in the last general elections.
285 of the 286 MPs who voted in the 300-seat parliament voted "yes" to lift the immunity of 10 Spartan Party MPs.
In the vote to lift the immunity of Konstantinos Floros, a member of parliament who entered parliament from the Spartans Party and later resigned from the party, 285 MPs voted. There was only one "no" in the vote.
Thus, the immunity of a total of 11 MPs was lifted, paving the way for judgement.
Yuksel The court had asked for the deputies' testimony
Supreme Court Prosecutor Yeorgis Adilini had requested written permission from the Parliament on 25 October to depose the MPs facing criminal charges.
In the written request of the prosecutor's office, it was claimed that the 11 deputies entered the parliament from the Spartans Party with the guidance of Ilias Kasidiarias, a former deputy of the racist Golden Dawn Party, which is considered a criminal organisation, in the general elections and should therefore be prosecuted.
Upon the request of the prosecutor's office, the Parliamentary Disciplinary Board unanimously voted "yes" on 2 November to lift the immunity of 11 far-right MPs, paving the way for a parliamentary vote to lift the immunity.
Kasidiaris was prevented from running by a judicial decision
As a result of the legal arrangement passed by the government led by Prime Minister Kiryakos Mitsotakis, the Greeks Nationalist Party founded by Kasidiaris before the general elections on 21 May and the alliance called "Greeks for Homeland and Freedom" consisting of independent parliamentary candidates including Kasidiaris before the general elections on 25 June were prevented from entering the elections by a judicial decision.
The Spartans Party, which Kasidiaris announced he would support just before the 25 June elections, made a surprise breakthrough and received 4.64 per cent of the vote in the general elections.
Vasilis Stingas, leader of the Spartans Party, had expressed special thanks to Kasidiaris in a statement after the election results.
According to Greek law, even if the leader and executive staff of a political party have not been involved in any criminal offences, the party is prohibited from running in elections if behind-the-scenes figures are involved in certain offences.
The far-right Golden Dawn Party was deemed a "criminal organisation" by a Greek court in October 2020, and party executives were sentenced to imprisonment.
