Ethics Committee opposes lifting immunity of Avgenakis and Lazaridis
The Ethics Committee has recommended to the Plenary that the parliamentary immunity of New Democracy MPs Avgenakis and Lazaridis should not be lifted. The final decision will be taken by the Plenary of Parliament.
Ethics Committee says "No" to lifting immunity of Avgenakis and Lazaridis
The parliamentary Ethics Committee recommended on Thursday 17 September to the Plenary of Parliament that the parliamentary immunity of New Democracy MPs Lefteri Avgenakis and Makarios Lazaridis should not be lifted, according to Newsit.gr. The final decision will be taken by the Plenary of the House.
According to reports, MPs from the governing party voted against lifting immunity, while opposition MPs voted in favour.
The Avgenakis case
The request to lift immunity for Lefteri Avgenakis was submitted based on a case file formed following a report dated 30 September 2025 and a supplementary report dated 9 October 2025 from Stefanos Kasselakis, president of DEMOCRATS-Progressive Centre. The case concerns the charge of submitting an inaccurate statement of assets, in accordance with articles 4a, 39 and 41 paragraph 1 of law 5026/2023.
In a written submission to the Committee, Avgenakis described the charges as "entirely baseless" and stated that they "have been dictated by political motivation". He noted that this is a report to the Office of the European Prosecutors (EPPO) regarding his Asset Declaration, with an attempted connection to the OPEKEPE case—a connection he characterised as "without real basis". He added that "there is no unjustified change in assets or concealment" and stated that he would respect the Committee's decision.
The Lazaridis case
The request concerning Makarios Lazaridis is based on a criminal complaint filed on 15 May 2026 by a lawyer. The charge concerns alleged fraud against a legal entity of the Greek state with damages exceeding 120,000 euros, under article 386 of the Penal Code.
Lazaridis is reported to have characterised the case before the Committee as "purely political persecution", noting that the complainant was a former politician of Artemis Sorras, and requested that his parliamentary immunity not be lifted.
Source: Newsit.gr