A scene of tension was created again by Zoe Konstantopoulou in Parliament on the waivers of immunity of members of parliament in the OPEKEPE case.
Intense controversy ensued during a meeting of the House Ethics Committee, on the issue of the waiver of immunity for Tassos Hadjivassiliou and Athanasios Athanasiou, in the context of the case of OPEKEPE.
The meeting was held in closed doors, however, the high tones and intense dialogues were reportedly noticed even outside the room.
Specifically, President of the Electoral Alliance, Zoe Konstantopoulou, shouted in high tones at the chairman of the committee Giorgos Georgantas: “I have more questions. will you block the questions”;
Giorgos Georgantas. What else do you want? We are not a court of law.”
Zoe Konstantopoulou: “I don’t understand, should we also apologize for being involved? Our duty to take some phone calls too? It is unacceptable what you are doing, you are protecting accountable! By bullying…You are preventing his examination.”
Reminder, Member of Parliament for the Southwest, Tasos Hadjivassiliou, sent a memo to the Commission, which he made public, in which he said: “I unequivocally declare my desire to have my immunity lifted immediately. In order to close this case. I declare categorically that there is no question of instigating a breach of duty, based on an act that did not take place […]. I have full confidence in the Greek justice system and its officials. Please accept this statement in order to accelerate the procedure.”
Mr. Hatzivassiliou, in the one-page memorandum to the Commission, refers in detail to the telephone contact he had with a producer, noting: “I acted solely within the limits of my parliamentary duties and obligations. Under no circumstances did I attempt, plan or perform any illegal act, nor did I turn against the interests of the State or the EU.”
The Member of the Southwestern Democratic Party, Charalambos Athanasiou, for his part, chose to appear in person before the Commission and he too requested the lifting of his immunity. During his appearance and in conversation with parliamentary editors, he reserved the right to position himself first in the Commission regarding the prosecutor’s request, stressing however that no offence was inferred from what was reported to him. I wonder, he said, how such a dossier was sent, while pointing out that for an MP to communicate with the administration on citizens’ affairs, that falls within the scope of parliamentary duties.
