Ousted far-right MP to appear before examining magistrate over coup remarks

The ousted Golden Dawn MP Constantinos Barbarousis, who is accused of treason, will appear before an examining magistrate on Wednesday to explain his remarks during a parliamentary debate last Friday, when he called for a military coup.

In his address to lawmakers during a debate on a no-confidence motion brought against the government by the opposition for its handling of a name deal with the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM), Barbarousis said that the military should arrest Prime Minsiter Alexis Tsipras, his coalition partner Panos Kammenos and Greek President Propkopis Pavlopoulos, in order to “prevent this treason,” that is the name deal with Skopje.

He was arrested on Monday morning in northern Athens by counter terrorism officers. He was on the run since Friday after he was indicted by a prosecutor on charges of treason.

According to Greek Penal Law, anyone who publicly or through the dissemination of documents or images intentionally attempts to incite others to commit acts of high treason is punished by up to 20 years in prison.

In a statement issued from detention, Barbarousis claimed his remarks were “uncompleted verbal exaggerations” and “unfortunate expressions” which were due to the “excitement” caused by what he described as the “real stakes” of the debate on the name deal.