MP detained after punching fellow lawmaker
Konstantinos Floros (center), an independent MP, formerly with the far-right Spartiates party, is led out of the plenary session by the Parliament guard on Wednesday after physically assaulting Greek Solution MP Vassilis Grammenos during a debate over a defamation lawsuit. He was detained after he punched Grammenos outside the plenum hall while lawmakers were discussing whether to lift the immunity of Greek Solution leader Kyriakos Velopoulos, who was sued for defamation by Floros’ father. After initially imposing the mild penalties provided for in the House regulation (15-day exclusion from meetings and referral to the Ethics Committee), Speaker Konstantinos Tasoulas then invoked a specific provision of the Criminal Code, according to which violence against state and political bodies is a felony, “punishable by up to 10 years in prison.” Floros was taken to the Hellenic Police Headquarters where he sought to justify the assault, claiming Grammenos verbally abused him and even insulted his mother. Greek Solution dismissed his claim, referring to an ‘imaginative so-called dialogue’ and warned that anyone who reproduces it would face legal consequences.
