House votes against lifting immunity of Kammenos
Parliament on Wednesday voted against lifting the immunity of Panos Kammenos, leader of anti-bailout party Independent Greeks, following a prosecutor’s request with regard to two defamation suits filed against him by Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis and SKAI journalist Aris Portosalte.
With regard to the Georgiadis suit, out of the 207 present MPs on Wednesday, 155 deputies voted against lifting Kammenos’s immunity, 39 voted in favor, 12 present while there was one blank ballot. In the case of the Portosalte lawsuit, 138 deputies voted against, 52 in favor, 16 present while one ballot was blank.
In December the House had voted in favor of lifting Kammenos’s immunity, for incitement to violence after being captured on camera in September suggesting that Halkidiki residents, in northern Greece, “lynch” a local mayor for throwing his support behind a controversial gold-mining project near the village of Skouries.
