Dimitris Papangelopoulos

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. 

Greek corruption prosecutors on Tuesday shelved a part of the investigation into the alleged bribery case involving Swiss drugmaker Novartis which concerns former conservative prime minister Antonis Samaras, after no evidence was found to support the accusations.

By Dimitra Kroustalli

There are certain posts in public service that operate almost anonymously for the majority of the population because the institution transcends the individual that serves it.

Such was the case with the Supreme Court Prosecutor's Office.

The government official that supposedly influenced the investigation of alleged bribes paid by Novartis to politicians is Alternate Justice Minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos, former conservative premier Antonis Samaras claimed in an interview with the Parapolitika newspaper that was published on Saturday.

Straight on the heels of Justice Minister Michalis Kalogirou's order yesterday that a disciplinary probe be launched against him, former Deputy Supreme Court Prosecutor Ioannis Angelis (who was supervisor of the corruption prosecutors handling the Novartis probe) has sent an open letter to the press outlining a long string of procedural violations and allegations that there were targeted prosec

The chief of the Anti-Corruption General Secretariat, Anastasia Xepapadea, has denied one more allegation of many over the last days - that she has a seat on the Board of a family business which may constitute a conflict of interest.

New Democracy has called on the government to fire her.

Former conservative prime minister Antonis Samaras has vowed to sue all the "schemers" that sought to implicate him in the Novartis pharmaceutical scandal.

Opposition New Democracy has accused the left-led government of interfering with the course of an investigation into allegation that Swiss drug firm Novartis paid bribes in Greece to receive preferential treatment.

The government intends to make a fresh attempt to update the regulations governing derivation of wealth ("pothen esches") forms, Alternate Justice Minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos announced on Tuesday, adding that new legislation would be drawn up after the holidays.

The Greek initials of the country's highest administrative court, STE, stand for "salvation of the elite," Health Minister Pavlos Polakis wrote in a sarcastic social media post on Monday night.