New files from an investigation by European prosecutors into a major farm subsidy scandal were forwarded to Parliament Tuesday, with the question of stripping two sitting lawmakers with the governing New Democracy party of their immunity from prosecution.
The probe focuses on alleged payments to cronies, sometimes based on fraudulent claims, by the now-defunct OPEKEPE state agency that disbursed European Union farm subsidies. The scandal has shaken Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ government, forcing the resignations of Cabinet members and damaging ND’s poll standing.
Opposition parties are calling for the government’s resignation.
A parliamentary ethics committee will decide whether to lift the automatic parliamentary immunity of Haralambos Athanassiou and Tassos Hadzivassiliou. It is expected to convene on April 20, after the Easter holidays.
Athanassiou is himself a member of the ethics committee and has therefore been replaced there by fellow ND lawmaker Ioanna Lytrivi.
The final decision on the immunity of the two ND deputies – who face potential charges of allegedly instigating breach of duty by OPEKEPE officials – will be taken in a subsequent vote by Parliament’s plenary session.
Earlier Tuesday, the ethics committee unanimously recommended lifting the immunity of another 11 sitting ND lawmakers named by the European Public Prosecutors’ Office in an earlier investigation into the scandal.
The 11 are Katerina Papakosta, Kostas A. Karamanlis, Ioannis Kefalogiannis, Notis Mitarakis, Konstantinos Tsiaras, Konstantinos Skrekas, Dimitrios Vartzopoulos, Maximos Senetakis, Vasileios Vasiliadis, Christos Boukoros and Theofilos Leontaridis.
