Argentine lawmaker suspended for conduct in virtual session

 Lawmaker Juan Emilio Ameri was suspended after he kissed partner's breast during Zoom call.


Photo credit: File | Afp

What you need to know:

  • The MP could be seen pulling down the shirt of his wife and kissing one of her breasts.
  • Confused, Ameri, 47, tried to apologise, saying that he did not think he was connected to the internet at that particular moment.

  • "Here in the centre of the country the connection is very poor. My partner came out of the bathroom, and I asked her how her implants were doing and I kissed them, because she had surgery ten days ago to have them put in." 

An Argentine lawmaker was suspended Thursday after  kissing his partner's breasts during a parliamentary session being held by videoconference, a scene that quickly went viral on social media.

As another MP was making his address on a giant video screen installed in parliament, which also showed other participants in their homes, Juan Emilio Ameri could be seen fondling and kissing the breasts of a woman sitting next to him.

The lawmaker from the northeastern province of Salta then pulled one of the woman's breasts out of her T-shirt and started kissing it.

The parliamentary session was initially interrupted, and then suspended, by the speaker Sergio Massa.

"The whole time we have been teleworking these past months we have had several incidents where deputies fell asleep or another hid, but today we had a situation that really overstepped the boundaries of this house," said Massa.

Confused, Ameri, 47, tried to apologise, saying that he did not think he was connected to the internet at that particular moment.

"Here in the centre of the country the connection is very poor. My partner came out of the bathroom, and I asked her how her implants were doing and I kissed them, because she had surgery ten days ago to have them put in." 

He was suspended from parliament for five days.