Antonis Samaras

Greece's former corruption prosecutor Eleni Raikou, who quit her post in 2017 over alleged political interference in the Novartis bribery investigation, on Monday accused former Alternate Justice Minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos of a series of interventions in her work. 

Greece's former corruption prosecutor Eleni Raikou, who quit her post in 2017 over alleged political interference in the Novartis bribery investigation, was to testify on Monday in connection with a probe into the possible mishandling of the original investigation. 

It remained unclear on Thursday whether the special Parliament committee which will be set up in early October to probe the possible mishandling of the alleged Novartis bribery case by the previous government will deem then that it is indeed the appropriate body to examine the case or if it will proceed to examine the testimonies of key figures and issue a finding.

The Supreme Court's prosecutor's office sent to Parliament on Friday a file on the ongoing inquiry into the handling of the Novartis case, so that MPs can decide whether to lift the immunity of politicians named. 

Supreme Court deputy prosecutor Ioannis Angelis claimed, during more than five hours of testimony on Thursday, that an unnamed politician dubbed "Rasputin" played a pivotal role in influencing the course of an investigation into the alleged bribery of politicians by the Swiss drugs manufacturer Novartis. 

Former PASOK minister Evangelos Venizelos on Wednesday slammed the Novartis bribery case brought against 10 high-ranking politicians under the previous administration as a "violation of the institutions."

An investigation into the claims of politicians implicated in the Novartis bribery scandal that the case was fabricated and politically motivated moved another step forward on Tuesday with the testimony of former conservative prime minister Antonis Samaras.

Former conservative prime minister Antonis Samaras on Tuesday submitted a 32-page memo to the Supreme Court prosecutor investigating the judicial handling of the Novartis bribery case.

Former premier Antonis Samaras is to testify before a Supreme Court prosecutor on Tuesday in an ongoing probe into the handling of bribery claims against high-ranking politicians.

After two hours of testimony before a prosecutor on Monday, during which he elaborated on his claim that a judicial probe into the alleged bribery of Greek politicians by Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis had been fabricated along with the testimonies of witnesses, European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos expressed his faith in the Greek justice system.