Parliament votes for probe into former SYRIZA minister

After a stormy debate, a parliamentary plenary session Tuesday voted in favor of a proposal by 30 ruling New Democracy lawmakers for the creation of a special committee to investigate allegations of foul play by Nikos Pappas during the contentious auction for TV licenses in 2016 when he was digital policy minister in the SYRIZA government.

The committee will investigate any crimes committed during the exercise of his ministerial duties, and specifically the charge of bribery and repeated breach of duty.

A businessman who took part in the auction, Christos Kalogritsas, accused Pappas, who was responsible for overseeing the licensing process, of “rigging” the competition.

For his part, Pappas rejected claims against him contained in the case file forwarded to Parliament in February by the Justice Ministry, and warned ND MPs to “be careful how you talk about SYRIZA.”

“The time is coming when you will pay a heavy price for your slander.”