Evangelos Zacharis

Greece's chief corruption prosecutor, Eleni Touloupaki, and two of her close associates testified on Wednesday as suspects in an ongoing probe into the judicial handling of the Novartis bribery investigation, defending themselves on charges of abuse of power, dereliction of duty and making false statements.

Greece's chief corruption prosecutor, Eleni Touloupaki, and two other officials in her service have been summoned as suspects in an ongoing probe into the judicial handling of the Novartis bribery case.

Testifying on Friday in the probe into the alleged bribery scandal implicating Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis and Greek politicians and doctors, deputy prosecutor Ioannis Angelis alleged that there was an organized plan to jail three politicians, including former prime minister Antonis Samaras, on the eve of national elections last year. 

The Greek prosecutors leading the investigation into the handling of the Novartis probe have written to authorities in the US, where the activities of the Swiss pharmaceutical firm have also been examined, with questions about the protected witnesses whose testimony led to accusations against Greek politicians, Kathimerini understands.

In testimony before a Supreme Court prosecutor on Thursday, a former protected witness in the Novartis investigation claimed that he came under pressure from Greek corruption prosecutors to testify against politicians in the absence of any incriminating evidence.

Two prosecutors who are investigating the handling of a controversial judicial probe that pointed to the alleged bribery of Greek politicians by Swiss pharmaceuticals firm Novartis on Wednesday heard from one of the 10 politicians.

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. 

Supreme Court deputy prosecutor Ioannis Angelis, who claims that the original Novartis investigation into alleged bribery of politicians and doctors by the Swiss company was mismanaged and undermined by the interventions of an unnamed politician, started testifying on Thursday.

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. 

European Migration Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos was to face a prosecutor on Monday to elaborate on his claim that a judicial probe into the alleged bribery of Greek politicians by Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis, which implicated him and another nine Greek politcians, had been fabricated along with the testimonies of witnesses.