Top Greek court cancels election of 3 far-right lawmakers
Special Highest Court ruling to affect president and 2 other lawmakers of far-right Spartans party, Vasilis Stigas, Petros Dimitriadis, and Alexandros Zerveas, respectively
Greek Parliament in Athens
ATHENS
Greece’s Special Highest Court on Tuesday cancelled the election of the three far-right lawmakers, local media reported.
The ruling will affect the president and two other lawmakers of the far-right Spartans party, Vasilis Stigas, Petros Dimitriadis, and Alexandros Zerveas, respectively, according to the daily Kathimerini.
The court found that electoral fraud was committed, as the party’s real leader was Ilias Kasidiaris, a jailed deputy who was once a leading member of the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn party, it added.
“The case of the deception of voters by the electoral ticket of a political party with a hidden leader concerns the entire country and, in particular, the electoral districts in which they were elected members of parliament of the political party in question,” the court specifically explained.
The daily noted that the ruling has created a unique precedent, as it is the first time that the Greek Parliament will operate with 297 lawmakers instead of 300, as the specific crime does not provide for the redistribution of the empty parliamentary seats among the other political parties.
