‘No grounds for treason’ in Varoufakis suit, says lawyer
A prominent criminal defense attorney said Friday that a suit filed by a colleague against former Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis accusing him of high treason over his handling of talks with international creditors does not have legal grounds.
Alexandros Lykourezos was commenting on a lawsuit filed on Wednesday by lawyer Panayiotis Giannopoulos, who is arguing that the former finance chief acted with malice and caused “incalculable damage to the interests of the country.”
Lykourezos said that the suit filed with the Supreme Court does not support the claim that Varoufakis’s actions “were designed to obstruct or hamper Parliament, the government and/or the prime minister from carrying out their duties.”
However, the lawyer added he believes that there are grounds for criminal charges against the former finance chief. Giannopoulos’s suit was the second filed against Varoufakis after Stylida Mayor and head of the Teleia (Full Stop) party Apostolos Gletsos accused him of exposing the Greek state to the risk of reprisals by his actions and policy decisions while serving the government.
