The acquittal of the prosecutor’s proposal for the crimes of rape and pimping for the central figure in the tragic case of the 12-year-old girl in Colonos and the social reactions it caused, were transferred to the Parliament and ignited tensions.
They even coincided with the discussion of the bill for the strengthening of the legal system, with the result that the Minister of Justice Giorgos Floridis came into a head-on confrontation with MPs of the New Left and SYRIZA.
The “quarrel” opened with Dimitris Tzanakopoulos who, although he did not comment on the prosecutor’s position, did not refrain from pointing out that there is a crisis of confidence in the Greek judiciary and a breakdown in the citizens’ relations with the pillar of the Republic “and that doesn’t seem to concern you, Mr. Floridis”.
Addressing the minister he referred to his recent remarks during the passing of the bill for the tightening of penalties when he spoke of the general feeling of impunity that exists among the citizens and which “it is fueled by the fact that everyone knows that anyone who has political and economic power in this country, has the possibility to either get away with it or get away with it, or that their criminal activity is usually covered up with political “backs”. In fact, he cited the Lignadis case as well as the closure of the Commission of Inquiry for Tempi.
Floridis referred to the changes in the Criminal Code under SYRIZA
For his part, Mr. Floridis replied that the trial for the Colonos case is behind closed doors and that means “that we can’t follow it, we don’t have the possibility to have information and it was made public, just as the proposal of the Prosecutor’s Office was made public, and the court is the one that will issue its decision at some point based on what happened in a room, the which we all ignore”.
“We don’t know what happened there, what was proven and what was not proven”completed and referred to the changes to the Criminal Code under SYRIZA with which, as he said, “you attempted to convert the offense of rape under 336 of the Penal Code from a felony to a misdemeanor”which was prevented due to backlash, but while the maximum penalty then was 20 years in prison, in the Penal Code you voted “you finally got it down to 15”.
“This was your care for rape victims when they are minors”emphasized Mr. Floridis, while noting that now the penalty for rape of a minor “could be up to life in prison” and the attempt from 8 years went to 20.
Tones rose
New Left MP Nasos Iliopoulos shouted “Tell Michos, not us!” and Mr. Tzanakopoulos “tell your executive!”, while the Minister of Justice countered by saying: “Your concern was – and now we have crocodile tears that something is being done for minors – to exonerate the rapists of minors, making the felony a misdemeanor…”with New Left MPs shouting from the benches “Shame on you!”.
“Shout as much as you want, here are the papers!”, said Mr. Floridis with Mr. Tzanakopoulos telling him: “Shame on you! You are not worthy to be a minister! You are unworthy!”. The fight reached Novartis and the visit of the then government representative, Mr. Tzanakopoulos, to the Areio Pagos: “then you went to the Areopagus to set up the biggest scandal and now your leader came out and says clearly that it was a scandal”the Minister of Justice told him.
And the following dialogue followed:
- Floridis: And you have the nerve after all you have done, especially for minors, especially for the rape of minors, to sell us lessons in democracy today!
- Iliopoulos: Tell Lignadis these things, not us!.
- Floridis: Lignadis, I don’t know which Lignadis…
- Iliopoulos: Oh, you don’t know him!.
- Floridis: Use the Code you did!
- Iliopoulos: You are funny!
- Floridis: Because this one is still valid, ours starts from May 1st.
They were asking him to resign
Taking the floor, Mr. Tzanakopoulos once again attacked Mr. Floridis, characterizing him “a neophyte who suffers from the syndrome of “genissary””. SSYRIZA MPs also strongly reacted to Floridis’s reports about the attempt by SYRIZA to change the penalty of rape from a felony to a misdemeanor.
In fact, they shouted at him that he was lying by urging him on “resign!” with him insisting: “I will bring you the provision, as you filed it, which showed your government’s will to make it a misdemeanor”he told outraged SYRIZA MPs.
#Parliament #Michos #Resign #Floridis #answer
