European Prosecutors Lay Out Case Details Against 11 Greek MPs in Farm Subsidy Scandal

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Syntagma Square Greek Parliament, Athens, Greece

The European Public Prosecutor’s Office has, for the archetypal time, elaborate the charges involving 11 Greek MPs from the ruling New Democracy party, raising the ineligible stakes successful a workplace subsidy ungraded that has already enactment the authorities nether mounting pressure.

Although Parliament had already received the lawsuit file, the underlying offenses had not antecedently entered the nationalist domain. That has present changed, arsenic European prosecutors acceptable retired the ineligible grounds for seeking the lifting of immunity for the 11 sitting lawmakers.

At the aforesaid time, the MPs named successful the record and their ineligible teams are combing done thousands of pages of lawsuit worldly arsenic they hole their defense. The dossier includes elaborate ineligible analysis, on with references to disputed conversations recorded done lawfully authorized surveillance.

European Prosecutor opens immunity process for Greek MPs

The adjacent measurement volition travel connected Holy Tuesday astatine 10:00 a.m., erstwhile the 11 MPs are owed to look earlier the Ethics Committee of Greece’s Parliament to respond to the contents of the file.

Parliament indispensable archetypal waive their immunity earlier prosecutors tin determination up with transgression proceedings and different investigative steps involving sitting lawmakers.

The process volition past proceed beyond Thomas Sunday, erstwhile the afloat enclosure is expected to conscionable and determine the substance successful a nationalist roll-call vote.

European Prosecutor’s charges against Greek MPs see felony and misdemeanor counts

According to the ineligible reasoning submitted by European prosecutors, Parliament’s support is required for offenses classified arsenic some felonies and misdemeanors.

At felony level, the filing names Katerina Papakosta and Konstantinos Karamanlis successful transportation with alleged motivation complicity successful breach of spot against the fiscal interests of the European Union, successful acts described arsenic committed jointly oregon otherwise, and successful repeated arsenic good arsenic non-repeated form. Papakosta besides faces abstracted allegations of motivation complicity successful machine fraud and mendacious certification.

At misdemeanor level, prosecutors besides privation authorization to proceed against Notis Mitarakis, Konstantinos Tsiaras, Konstantinos Skrekas, Ioannis Kefalogiannis, Dimitrios Vartzopoulos, Vasileios Vasileiadis, Maximos Senetakis, Christos Boukoros and Theofilos Leontaridis. In each case, prosecutors nexus the allegation to motivation complicity successful breach of spot against the EU’s fiscal interests.

Prosecutors accidental they request the immunity assistance not lone to record charges, but besides to transportation retired investigative acts straight involving the lawmakers, including summonses to supply explanations.

EPPO says parliamentary immunity blocks the inquiry

The petition besides cites Article 29(1) of the EPPO Regulation, which allows the European Chief Prosecutor to question the lifting of immunity erstwhile protections granted nether nationalist instrumentality obstruct a circumstantial investigation.

On that basis, prosecutors reason that Parliament indispensable waive immunity for the enquiry to determination guardant successful narration to the pursuing existent members of the Greek Parliament: