At the direction of Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, MP Lefteris Avgenakis was expelled from the ruling New Democracy party, according to Politico.
A Greek prosecutor has ordered an investigation into Avgenakis, caught on camera assaulting an airport employee. Mitsotakis had earlier referred Avgenakis to the ethics committee, recommending that he be expelled from the party. However, Avgenakis stated that he would not give up his parliamentary seat.
The 51-year-old MP, who served as the country’s agriculture minister until last month, apologised earlier in the day after a video circulated online showing him physically harassing an employee at Athens International Airport.
He grabbed the man’s phone after being allegedly prevented from boarding a flight to Crete because he was late.
According to the OSEPE airport workers’ union, Avgenakis also threatened to “transfer” an employee, and when other workers tried to calm him down, reportedly shouted, “Don’t touch me, I have immunity!” The union also reported that employees called Avgenakis by name three times before the gate closed.
“Verbal incident”
Avgenakis apologised and tried to downplay his behaviour, calling it a “verbal incident with the company employee, as he did not allow me to board, claiming that boarding had been completed, while I could see with my own eyes that passengers were still in the boarding bridge.”
However, government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis condemned his behaviour, stating that “attitudes of You-Know-Who-I-Am cannot be accepted by the PM.”
The prosecutor’s office will consider the incident as an alleged assault on an employee, disruption of public services, unlawful violence, and damage to state property. Further legal action would require the cancellation of Avgenakis’ parliamentary immunity from prosecution.
The MP was recently criticised for allegedly spending €6,000 on flowers to decorate his office and for taking a painting from his office after he left the cabinet on 14 June.
