Greece expels far-right lawmakers from parliament

Greece's highest electoral court has expelled ultra-nationalist lawmakers from parliament, the Greek broadcaster ERTnews reported on Tuesday, citing judicial sources.

Three of the five lawmakers from the far-right Spartans party have been stripped of their seats in the Hellenic Parliament, including party leader Vasilis Stingas, while the remaining two are to sit as independent parliamentarians.

The court ruled that a repeat election was not necessary, a decision that reduces the number of lawmakers in the legislature from 300 to 297.

Members of the opposition Social Democrats filed a lawsuit against the election of the lawmakers two years ago.

Earlier this year, the Greek parliament cut off all state funding for the Spartans due to the party's right-wing extremist activities.

The court ruled that the three expelled lawmakers had deceived the electorate during the election campaign two years ago.

They had presented themselves as a patriotic movement, but were in fact a front for the right-wing extremist Ilias Kasidiaris, the court argued.

Kasidiaris has been in prison since 2020. He was a leading member of the right-wing extremist Golden Dawn party, which has been declared a criminal organization by the judiciary.