Airport employee files charges against New Democracy MP after altercation

A 22-year-old airport worker on Wednesday filed a criminal action against a Conservative lawmaker and former minister who allegedly manhandled him last Friday because he wouldn’t let him board a domestic flight he’d turned up late for.

The man is accusing Lefteris Avgenakis of insulting and threatening him in an incident that is said to have taken place on June 28 at Athens International Airport.

The 51-year-old MP, who has held the sports and agriculture portfolios, apologized but denied using physical violence against the employee, saying there had been only “verbal tension.”

However, footage on social media from an overhead video purportedly showed Avgenakis, a lawmaker with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ New Democracy party, trying to snatch the employee’s phone during the altercation. 

He said he did that because he wanted to speak to the worker’s supervisors “in a last effort” to get on the flight, which he missed.

The airport employee had been informed at the time of the incident by the police that he had the right to take legal action.

Meanwhile, a prosecutor in Athens ordered a preliminary investigation to examine alleged offenses including assault on an employee, disruption of public service, unlawful violence, and damage to public property. Further legal action will require lifting Avgenakis’ parliamentary immunity.

The MP was later booted out of the center-right party’s parliamentary group and Parliament Speaker Konstantinos Tassoulas imposed a two-week ban on attending legislative sessions, calling his behavior at he airport “unacceptable.”

The lawmaker was roundly condemned for his actions by opposition parties.