On Friday morning, Nikos Pappas—the MEP expelled from SYRIZA—presented the provocative line “I raised my hand but I didn’t punch him,” arguing that if he had done so, “there would be a mark, a scratch, something,” in reference to the beating of journalist Nikos Giannopoulos.

He also confirmed on MEGA that he used the phrase “look at me and look at him,” adding that he told Giannopoulos’s group, “If I wanted to beat him up, I would have done it—look at my physique and his.”

He also maintained that he was not spirited away to Germany and then to Athens, saying: “After the lawsuit, I went to the plenary session, voted, gave a speech, had meetings, and then, after reflecting on what happened, I said I would return to my home in Athens. I went to Germany as MEPs do and returned to Athens via Stuttgart. No one was looking for me; I left at 8 p.m. through the door of the European Parliament.”

“I am the first to condemn my action and I regret it. I lost control, and I am here to say I’m sorry,” the MEP also said. When asked, “Shouldn’t you be punished?” he replied: “I didn’t come to justify myself but to explain my side. I have been provoked, I have been threatened. As a politician I don’t hang out in fancy restaurants with men in suits; I’m out with young people whose blood is boiling.”

Describing the incident, he initially said: “I didn’t wake up one day in Strasbourg and decide to hit someone—you’re smart and you understand, and even if you weren’t, you’d still understand. I had my back turned to the group, I heard Greek, it didn’t strike me as odd; my group told me they were journalists. The place has some stands; often people passing by don’t see my legs, they bump into them, you brush it off and move on. I felt he was dragging me, which seemed deliberate. I raised my head and as he went to pull me along, I told him to apologize, and he replied, ‘No way I’m apologizing to you, Pappas.’ Because the place didn’t have music, I said, ‘I didn’t understand your tone; I don’t know who you are,’ and he replied, ‘You know who I am and I can destroy you.’ I saw him as an odd character; he had drunk quite a bit and was looking for trouble. I took him outside, and once we were outside I insisted he tell me who he was so we could draw our conclusions.”

According to Nikos Pappas, the journalist then “made a comment about a sensitive personal issue—I mention it in the lawsuit I will file against him; it has to do with a health matter—and that made me lose my composure. As soon as I heard the comment, I raised my hand. In no case did I punch him; I didn’t hit him from behind; I didn’t want to cause bodily harm, which did not occur. In no case does it honor me, and I regret it.”

“I raised my hand; I’m not Avgenakis to tell you I went to grab the radio. I made a gesture toward his face and that was it. A shove, a slap—call it what you want. I’m 105 kilos, 1.95 meters tall; if I had punched him, there would be a mark, a scratch. You can see what he looks like; if he had a scratch, we all would have seen it,” the MEP insisted provocatively while admitting the attack, adding elsewhere: “Did you see this man who appeared on 30 shows have the slightest mark? Did he go to a clinic or a hospital? I didn’t punch the man.”

Continuing his account, he said: “Then I went back to my people and said there had been an incident; I didn’t feel like continuing the drinks, let’s leave. As we were leaving, I saw they had formed a little huddle. I said to him, ‘Now that things have calmed down, do you want to tell me who you are?’ and a voice was heard: ‘You’re an MEP and you beat journalists?’ Then I said, ‘Look at me and look at him. If I wanted to beat him, I would have done it—look at my physique and his. If you believe I beat someone, call the police now to assess the situation.’ They stalled there, and I told them I would call the police myself. Then he left on his own. I asked who he was, and they told me he was a guest journalist and works there, and I realized we knew each other from my basketball days.”

Regarding his conduct after the lawsuit became known, Nikos Pappas said: “The lawsuit was filed at 7 a.m. the next day. If he wanted to file a lawsuit, he would have done it the same day, but he was somewhat under the influence of alcohol. After the lawsuit, I went to the plenary, voted, gave a speech, had meetings, and then, after reflecting on what happened, I said I would return to my home in Athens. I went to Germany as MEPs do and returned to Athens via Stuttgart. No one was looking for me; I left at 8 p.m. through the door.”

As for the phone calls that followed to Nikos Giannopoulos, he said: “I called him; he answered at first. I said ‘Nikos’ and tried to talk to him so the misunderstanding could be resolved, because for so many years—despite threats—you won’t find any such incident in my record outside the stadiums. Then he hung up; I called again and it was off. Then I wondered whether I had called the wrong person and deleted that message.”