“This will be decided by judges,” Floros shouted anyway, to which Grammenos replied “shut up, you trash!”
The tension escalated and the two men stepped outside of the plenary room. Photos have emerged in Greek media that appear to show Floros putting Grammenos in a headlock and throwing him on the ground.
Grammenos was transferred to the parliament’s clinic. A party official later told POLITICO that he had been transferred to hospital, with a fracture to his nose and his wrist. Floros was detained and brought to the police headquarters.
He will be charged with violating article 157 of the criminal code, according to which it is a felony to attack against a member of parliament during the performance of his duties and could face up to ten years in prison.
“This is an unfortunate moment,” his lawyer Vaso Pantazi told reporters. “No one approves of such an act, but there is a human condition. Before the unfortunate incident there was a verbal attack of incredible vulgarity.”
Other lawmakers called for criminal charges.