A turbulent session unfolded in the Hellenic Parliament on Thursday as the Inquiry Committee investigating the OPEKEPE agricultural-payments scandal questioned one of its most controversial figures, Giorgos Xylouris - widely known by the nickname “Frappés.” What was expected to be a routine witness examination quickly spiraled into procedural chaos, political confrontation and even allegations of verbal threats.
Tension flared when Xylouris, appearing after refusing an earlier summons, declared from the outset that he would invoke the right to remain silent. He read a written memorandum and then refused to answer nearly every question posed to him, including mundane queries such as whether he had ever won the lottery. He insisted he had “not taken a single euro illegally” and said he had been the target of months of public humiliation. Yet he declined to clarify whether he had been designated a suspect by judicial authorities - information that would determine whether he was even entitled to claim the right to silence under Greek law.
Opposition parties, with the exception of PASOK, argued that by refusing to testify as a witness, Xylouris was violating the law and should be subject to immediate in flagrante arrest. The governing New Democracy party rejected this, saying the matter should be referred to the prosecutor rather than handled inside Parliament. Matters escalated further when New Democracy’s rapporteur Makarios Lazaridis suggested that Xylouris could legitimately remain silent because, according to documents from the European Public Prosecutor’s Office, he was described as a “leading member” of a criminal organization linked to OPEKEPE. PASOK countered that this effectively granted him a legal status he did not have, since he had never been summoned for questioning by any judicial authority.
The session took a dramatic turn when Zoe Konstantopoulou, a former parliament speaker and leader of the Freedom Sailing party, demanded that Xylouris be brought back into the room after leaving at the end of his testimony. She accused the Committee of “smuggling him out” to protect him from arrest and insisted he be detained on the spot. When staff were instructed to locate him before he exited the building, Konstantopoulou continued to interrupt proceedings, prompting the Committee chair to suspend the session. Upon its resumption, she claimed that aides had overheard Xylouris threatening her as he exited the chamber, allegedly saying he would “kill her” and “wring her neck.” Several parties condemned the alleged remarks, though the confrontation pushed the session once again to the brink of collapse.
Where Xylouris did choose to speak, his statements raised as many questions as they answered. He confirmed legal action against a former OPEKEPE employee and acknowledged showing private documents to a former minister, Lefteris Avgenakis, before filing a complaint - accounts that contrasted with statements captured in police surveillance transcripts. At other moments, he insisted that many recorded conversations attributed to him were fabricated, only to later concede the authenticity of others by claiming a third person used his phone.
The witness also offered colorful personal details, including that his true nickname in Crete is “Tzitzis” and that he is a lifelong supporter of New Democracy, joking that only Alzheimer’s disease would make him vote for another party. He denied allegations from former agriculture minister Spilios Livanos that he had threatened ministry staff, calling the claims lies and inviting a face-to-face confrontation.
By day’s end, New Democracy announced that the Committee’s minutes would be forwarded to the prosecutor “to preserve the Committee’s credibility,” while PASOK accused the governing party of cooperating with the witness to obstruct the investigation. For a case already steeped in allegations of corruption, influence peddling and political interference, Thursday’s theatrics underscored the degree to which the OPEKEPE scandal has become a proxy battleground in Greece’s broader political landscape.
