NEWS

Kammenos to be probed for suggesting Halkidiki mayor should be lynched

Independent Greeks leader Panos Kammenos is to be investigated by a Thessaloniki prosecutor after suggesting residents of Halkidiki should “lynch” a local mayor for backing gold mining in Skouries.

Kammenos made the comments over the weekend after appearing at the Thessaloniki International Fair. Protesters surrounded him after his speech, complaining that their drinking water and the water they use for crops and animals contained arsenic, the toxic substance often used in gold mining.

The first instance prosecutor’s office in Thessaloniki is going to investigate whether Kammenos was inciting others to commit a criminal act, which is punishable with up to three years in jail.

PASOK said the comments made by Kammenos regarding the mayor of Aristoteli, Christos Pachtas, were “unacceptable and fascist-like”.

“Pachtas should not be able to walk freely, you should lynch him,” Kammenos told aggrieved Halkidiki residents.

The Independent Greeks leader refused to retract the comment on Monday and said he would turn himself in to a prosecutor if an investigation was launched into the gold mine first.

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