Former PM hits out against implication in C4I probe

Former Socialist prime minister Costas Simitis hit out against his implication in a money-laundering probe with regard to the acquisition of a C4I security system for the 2004 Athens Olympics, saying that "personal attacks can't touch me."

"It is dangerous for the public life of the country to be dragged into the mud while we are still in a crisis," he said in a statement.

He attributed the slander to the political expediencies of the pre-election period. "The obligation of governors is to come up with policies for the future and not mud about the past," he said.

A case file investigating charges against former Socialist defense minister Yiannos Papantoniou of repeated passive bribery was sent to Parliament on Monday as part of the probe into alleged kickbacks related to the acquisition of the C4I security system.