Greek Ethics Committee recommends against lifting immunity for two MPs

The Ethics Committee of the Greek Parliament has recommended against lifting the parliamentary immunity of New Democracy MPs Lefteris Avgenakis and Makarios Lazaridis. The decision was reached during a closed-door session where New Democracy members voted to maintain immunity, while the opposition voted in favor of lifting it.

Lefteris Avgenakis faces an investigation following a report by Stefanos Kasselakis regarding allegations of submitting an inaccurate asset declaration. Avgenakis has submitted a memorandum to the committee, calling the charges ‘entirely baseless’ and claiming they are driven by political expediency based on a flawed assessment of his financial data.

Makarios Lazaridis is facing allegations of fraud against a public legal entity involving sums exceeding 120,000 euros, related to his academic credentials and subsequent salaries received from the Ministry of Education. Lazaridis has characterized the legal action as ‘purely political persecution.’

In a separate matter, the Parliament voted to lift the immunity of Zoi Konstantopoulou and Dimitris Avramopoulos.