Spartiates remain in Parliament for time being

Greece
Tue, 21 May 2024 8:03 GMT
The decision over the parliamentary presence of the far-right Spartiates (Spartans) has been postponed by the Electoral Court until after a verdict is issued in the criminal trial of the party’s MPs who are being prosecuted for defrauding the electorate.
Spartiates remain in Parliament for time being

The decision over the parliamentary presence of the far-right Spartiates (Spartans) has been postponed by the Electoral Court until after a verdict is issued in the criminal trial of the party’s MPs who are being prosecuted for defrauding the electorate.

The decision of the Electoral Court, presided over by the president of the Council of State, Evangelia Nika, and involving senior judges from the three highest courts (Council of State, Supreme Court and Court of Audit) means that some Spartiates will remain in Parliament, as a verdict in the trial of its MPs could take up to a year or two to be issued.

The trial, scheduled to begin on June 19, was initiated by the prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Georgia Adilini, on the charge that the MPs (but not their party leader Vasilis Stigas) deceived the electorate.

More specifically, that they were elected as Spartiates, when in fact they were a puppet party of the jailed Ilias Kasidiaris, a senior leader of the now defunct neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, who is also being prosecuted as the instigator of the deception.

The criminal prosecution against them was launched following complaints by Stigas himself.

The prosecution was based on evidence that Spartiates MPs were in direct contact with Kasidiaris before last year’s parliamentary elections, from which the Supreme Court had banned him from participating.

It should be noted that on the grounds that the Spartiates are a front for Kasidiaris, the Supreme Court banned the participation of the party in the upcoming European elections, a few weeks ago – in application of the law that stipulates that Golden Dawn inmates cannot participate in electoral procedures.

Moreover, the possibility of the Spartiates being expelled and their seats being divided among the other parties has effectively now been ruled out.

Kathimerini

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