Parliament voted in favor of lifting the immunity of MPs Kasidiaris, Panagiotaros, Alexopoulos, Germenis, Iliopoulos and Boukouras, who face charges of joining and directing a criminal organization and other offenses committed in the past. The prosecutor of Piraeus rejected the request of detained MPs Michaloliakos, Pappas and Lagos to be released from prison in order to attend the vote in Parliament.
A total of 38 MPs were absent from the roll call vote, including political leaders Samaras, Venizelos and Tsipras, and the Golden Dawn MPs. The available MPs voted almost in their entirety in favor of lifting the immunity of each Golden Dawn MP, with minor exceptions.
Golden Dawn’s MPs abstained from the vote in protest, with Kasidiaris claiming that the persecution of his party “was ordered by foreign command centers: the European Commission and the Americans”. Panagiotaros joked that he had no problem with the lift and that his party will persist.
On Thursday Parliament will vote on a critical amendment regarding the suspension of State funding for parties facing criminal organization and terrorism charges. According to the Minister of Justice Charalambos Athanasiou, the proposal will be included in a bill on renewable energy sources, in order to expedite relevant procedures.
While the government and opposition are in agreement of suspending Golden Dawn’s state funding, SYRIZA has expressed reservations about the Michelakis proposal. The opposition’s proposal includes a requirement of 180 votes (compared to the government proposal of 151), only taking into account “criminal organization” charges and provisions for acquittal.
Meanwhile, in an effort to impress, Golden Dawn made its own proposal calling for the abolition of all state funding currently available to parties. Golden Dawn made a similar proposal in 2012.
