An Athens court has convicted former New Democracy MEP Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou and three others over the unauthorised use of personal data belonging to Greeks living abroad ahead of the 2024 European Parliament elections.
The case involved the use of an Interior Ministry database containing around 25,500 email addresses of overseas voters, which was allegedly used for campaign purposes.
Asimakopoulou received a 20-month suspended prison sentence, while former Interior Ministry Secretary-General Michalis Stavrianoudakis and two former New Democracy officials were also given suspended sentences.
Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis defended the former MEP and ruled out her expulsion from the party.
“At a political level we are talking about an email,” Marinakis said.
“Treating these people this way for an email, in an age when we receive messages and emails from unknown profiles every day… and treating these people as drug dealers, as white slavers, and I don’t know what else, ranges from the hypocritical to the ridiculous.”
Opposition party PASOK criticised the government’s stance, accusing it of viewing “the state as loot in the hands of the party and their political friends.”
Source: Ekathimerini
