Environment and Energy Minister Stavros Papastaurou reacted strongly to references made about him by Course of Freedom leader Zoe Konstantopoulou during a heated parliamentary session. During her speech in Parliament, Zoe Konstantopoulou referenced the OPEKEPE scandal, stating: “Mr. Papa, you were president of OPEKEPE. I learned you didn’t speak much. Maybe you should. Mr. Papastaurou, I remember you from the preliminary investigation for the Lagarde list. Mr. Mitsotakis had beheaded you… Are you checking if you have your head? I see you take everything very literally… the first thing you did after the 2025 reshuffle was to meet with your Israeli counterpart,” while questioning: “What is your strategy?“
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Papastaurou on Konstantopoulou: Inaccurate, unreliable and ruthless
“Since we started with words beginning with A, let me also characterize Mrs. Konstantopoulou as inaccurate, unreliable and ruthless. Mrs. Konstantopoulou, you are a lawyer, you know very well what it means in a civil democracy to have 10 decisions from administrative courts and judicial councils,” Stavros Papastaurou initially stated. “You know this, but you deliberately distort it. Because all of these had the same result, my vindication, and this bothers you. It bothers you because you were a member of a ruthless group – you were together then, you’re not together today – which has been connected to the darkest page of justice, when justice was instrumentalized, there was an attempt to instrumentalize justice against political opponents and you participated in that,” he further emphasized.
“Two ministers may have been convicted by the Special Court, but that doesn’t change your ruthless attempt. The targeting was always women. Mrs. Savvaidou who was acquitted, Mrs. Stournara who was acquitted, Mrs. Garbofski. All appealed to justice and were vindicated,” the Environment and Energy Minister added.
“It bothers you incredibly, I dare say it irritates you that you see me here in these seats, you want me beheaded. Unfortunately or fortunately, the mud didn’t stick, I was vindicated by the courts. I was even vindicated under SYRIZA,” Mr. Papastaurou continued.
“I would like to tell you that it’s time here in Parliament to stop these machinations, innuendos, distortions, inaccuracies. You can use them in courtrooms when you defend your clients who are accused of raping women, not here. Here there are institutions and you must respect them. You served, alas, as President of Parliament, but I understand you never managed to respect it,” the Environment and Energy Minister concluded.
