Jailed GD MPs to appear in Parliament
Detained lawmakers of the ultra-right Golden Dawn party who face having their immunity to prosecution lifted are to be given permission to attend Parliament on the days that the House is due to discuss their cases, Kathimerini has learned.
Giorgos Germenis and former GD MP Stathis Boukouras are due in Parliament on Wednesday at around noon ahead of a vote on whether their immunity should be lifted for prosecution on charges of the illegal possession of explosives and weapons.
Lawmakers are also scheduled to vote on whether to lift the immunity of GD MP Nikos Michos and another former GD legislator, Chrysovalantis Alexopoulos, who quit the party in March, shortly before Boukouras left. Michos faces drug-related charges while Alexopoulos faces charges of belonging to a criminal organization.
Another three Golden Dawn lawmakers – party leader Nikos Michaloliakos, his second-in-command Christos Pappas and Yiannis Lagos – are also expected to be granted leave from pretrial custody to attend parliamentary debates on a series of criminal charges they are facing. It remained unclear on Tuesday, however, when the discussion of their cases will be held.
In a statement on its website, Golden Dawn suggested that the government might seek to put off the debate until after local authority and European Parliament elections later this month to avoid additional political tensions.
Germenis or Boukouras, who are due in Parliament Wednesday, are expected to be transferred to the House amid high security and might be obliged to address fellow lawmakers in handcuffs.
