The House Special Committee on Ethics said it will not proceed with investigations into a complaint filed against MP Andreas Themistocleous for offensive and racist remarks against Green Party MP Alexandra Attalidou.
Justifying its decision, the committee said that the incident took place outside the Parliament, therefore it has no jurisdiction to examine the complaint.
“The Committee, noting that the incident occurred outside the Parliament and, in any case, outside the scope of Mr. Themistocleous’ duties, as provided for in the Code of Ethics for Members of the House of Representatives, is not instructed to proceed with the examination of the reported complaint, as stipulated in the Code of Conduct,” it said in an announcement.
Nevertheless, it “unanimously” condemned Themistocleous’ remark, noting that it “contained offensive, sexist, racist, and derogatory content that undermines, among other things, the dignity of the particular female Member of Parliament, while also urging the competent authorities to investigate the possibility of criminal misconduct.”
The complaint against independent and former Elam and Disy MP Themistocleous was filed by Attalidou.
Following a plenary session which voted to criminalise conversion therapies aimed at changing one’s sexual orientation or gender expression, Themistocleous who opposed the legislation, wrote on Facebook, referring to Attalidou: “It seems the three blacks never showed up.”
Attalidou has also filed a complaint with the police.
According to philenews, authorities will receive Attalidou’s statement on Friday, and next week they will decide whether there is ground to petition the Supreme Court to lift Themistocleous’ parliamentary immunity.
Attalidou’s testimony will not only relate to the recent post by Themistocleous but also to a previous abusive issue sparked last December, while the Parliament was discussing the introduction of sex education in schools.
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MP Attalidou to give statement to police for male colleague’s “abusive remarks” on Friday
