Angelis orders probe of politicians’ lawsuits before testifying on Novartis

Just two days before he will be deposed regarding his charges of a botched handling of the Novartis kickbacks case by his colleagues and of governmental meddling in the case, Deputy Supreme Court Prosecutor Ioannis Angelis has in a 10-page report requested that lawsuits filed by former PM Antonis Samaras, former Pasok leader Evangelos Venizelos, and European Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos (a former health minister) should be removed from the archive in which they were shelved and reviewed anew.

Samaras has charged that his implication in the Novartis case was the product of a government-judiciary conspiracy to slander and annihilate him politically.

Venizelos and Avramopoulos have made similar allegations.

Angelis submitted his report on 19 June, and judicial sources say that he did not follow the proper procedure as he had already  submitted his request to chief Supreme Court Prosecutor Xeni Dimitriou, who is reviewing the request and has the authority to order further investigation of the plaintiffs' charges based on any possible new evidence.

It is unclear whether new evidence has emerged and what it might entail.

Angelis personally instructed the Appellate Court Prosecutor's Office to probe the allegations in the three lawsuits.

Angelis orders that politicians be deposed, 'Rasputin' be identified

In his order to the appellate court prosecutor, Angelis requests that Samaras, Venizelos, and Avramopoulos be called in to testify as witnesses regarding their allegations.

Angelis also orders that all necessary action be taken to identify the man he has described as "Rasputin" in his recent open letter to the press, in which he alleges that Dimitriou knows who Rasputin is and that she shelved his...