Supreme Court Prosecutor Georgia Adilini on Thursday ordered the criminal prosecution of 11 opposition MPs of the Spartiates party, as well as jailed former Golden Dawn MP Ilias Kasidiaris, on charges of defrauding the electorate. The head of the Spartiates party, Vasilis Stigas, is not being prosecuted.
After personally investigating Stigas’ public denouncement of illegal, behind-the-scenes activities within his party, Adilini instructed the head of the Athens First-instance Prosecutors to bring charges.
The 11 MPs to face charges include Athanasios Halkias, Haralambos Katsivardas, Georgios Manousos, Alexandros Zerveas, Ioannis Dimitrokallis, Dionysios Valtgiannis, Georgios Aspiotis, Michalis Gavgiotakis, Ioannis Kontis, Petros Dimitriadis and Konstantinos Floros.
Kasidiaris, already jailed for his action within Golden Dawn, is charged with morally instigating the deception of voters, as the prosecutor’s investigation revealed that he is the true leader of the Spartiates party, who secretly controlled events and was responsible for the party running in the elections and electing MPs to Parliament.
The charge is based on evidence showing that there was continuous contact between the Spartiates candidates and Kasidiaris while he was in prison and that he provided them with guidance and political support – which is forbidden under the law for him and other jailed members of Golden Dawn, which was ruled a criminal organisation.
Adilini also ordered the prosecution of lawyer Sotirios Metaxas as a party enabling the contacts between Kasidiaris and the MPs facing charges.
SOURCE; ANA-MPA
