Speaking to MEGA, Pappas said he did not want young people to think that “raising a hand” on someone is acceptable. “I am not flattered, I do not like, I am not honoured by what happened,” he said.
Outlining his version of events, he claimed he did not trip the journalist but dragged his feet as he walked past, which he found “pretentious”. He rejected Giannopoulos’s claim of being struck “with fists behind the back”, saying instead that he raised his hand in a single gesture: “Call it a push, call it a slap. I never punched him.” He alleged that the journalist had previously threatened him, saying “I will destroy you”, and that the blow came after Giannopoulos brought up something “very personal” that angered him, though he declined to specify what it was.
Pappas also denied saying “how can I not hit you the way you are”, arguing that the journalist, who he claimed was under the influence of alcohol, misheard his words. “Is it possible that I, with my experience and my path, would say to someone ‘look at how you are, I will hit you’? Not even the worst trash would think like that. I said ‘look at how I am and look at how you are’, meaning physically.”
Responding to reports that he attempted to flee, he said that even after the lawsuit was filed he appeared in the plenary session, took his position and “left normally through the door, as I do every morning”.
On his expulsion from SYRIZA, the now independent MEP said: “My expulsion is the only positive thing from this case.” He added that no one from the party contacted him, and commented that “our personalities no longer matched. They changed leaders, the party is in limbo.”
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