Antonis

Former prime minister Antonis Samaras has filed a defamation suit against journalist Costas Vaxevanis over a Facebook post last week in which he accuses the ex-conservative leader of lying about his involvement in the Novartis case.

A number of citizens were asked whether they had been keeping abreast of developments during a television program this week discussing Wednesday's parliamentary debate into whether a special committee should probe allegations that 10 top politicians received bribes from drug company Novartis.

Greek MPs were poised to vote in the early hours of Thursday morning to vote on whether 10 Greek politicians alleged to have accepted bribes from Swiss drugs manufacturer Novartis should face investigation by a House committee. 

The voting followed several hours of vehement debate involving the politicians named in the contentious prosecutors' report as well as party leaders. 

Two former Greek government ministers have filed criminal lawsuits against witnesses who allegedly implicated them and other former officials in a pharmaceuticals scandal.

Former conservative prime minister Antonis Samaras has filed a suit against current Greek Premier Alexis Tsipras, accusing him of being behind a plot to tarnish opposition politicians by implicating them in the Novartis bribery claims.

For a good detective story to work, famed Greek-American crime writer George Pelecanos told me in Washington some 20 years ago that it needs a solid plot that can stand up to the reader's scrutiny, down to the smallest detail.