Greek Parliament lifts immunity of Zoe Konstantopoulou
On 22 July 2026 the plenary of the Hellenic Parliament voted 160 in favour, 63 against and six abstentions to lift the parliamentary immunity of Zoe Konstantopoulou, president of the Freedom Movement party. The motion stemmed from a defamation lawsuit filed by businessman Achilleas Davelis, which Konstantopoulou described as a politically motivated attack linked to her comments on the Tempi train disaster, the OPEKEPE case and other investigations. She said the decision represented the tenth request to strip her of immunity and warned that “they are trying to silence me”.
In the same sitting, MPs also voted to lift the immunity of independent deputy Mario Salmas, with a 157‑66‑7 result, after a suit brought by Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis over Salmas’s statements about alleged corruption involving Novartis and public procurement. Both members characterised the proceedings as part of a broader campaign to curb dissent.
The votes remove legal protection that had previously shielded the two lawmakers from prosecution, allowing the related criminal cases to proceed.