Parliament lifts immunity of Independent Greeks leader, ND and GD deputies
Parliament on Wednesday voted to lift the immunity of the head of the right-wing, anti-bailout party Independent Greeks, Panos Kammenos, for incitement to violence after he was captured on video in September suggesting that residents of Halkidiki, in northern Greece, “lynch” a local mayor for backing a controversial gold-mining project in nearby Skouries.
A total of 148 deputies voted in favor of the motion with 100 voting against and one blank ballot.
Kammenos spoke of “an attempt to muzzle a politician reacting against the policies of the troika.”
Separately, deputies voted to lift the immunity of conservative New Democracy MP Nikitas Kaklamanis for allegedly creating a parking lot in a little park and of Golden Dawn deputy Panayiotis Iliopoulos for illegal weapons possession.
In the case of the former, 177 deputies voted in favor, 66 against, nine present and one blank ballot, and in the latter, 233, 14 present and two blank ballots.
