Pharmaceutical companies

In the latest twist in the complex investigation into the Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis and whether Greek politicians accepted bribes to boost the company's market share, Greece's Supreme Court prosecutor has ordered a probe into the handling of the investigation.

Justice Minister Mihalis Kalogirou on Tuesday ordered a disciplinary investigation into a deputy prosecutor of the Supreme Court, who claimed there had been interventions in the Novartis inquiry.

A deputy Supreme Court prosecutor on Tuesday was assigned to investigate the handling by judicial authorities of allegations, which have so far proved groundless, that 10 prominent politicians had received bribes from Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis in the 2009-2013 period.

The owner of an advertising agency gave his testimony to a corruption prosecutor in Athens as part of the Novartis probe on Wednesday, during which he argued that he had never paid any bribes to politicians accused of allegedly taking bribes from the Swiss pharmaceutical firm in exchange for preferential treatment.

Former socialist health minister Andreas Loverdos, who has been implicated in an alleged bribery scandal involving Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis, filed lawsuits on Monday against all the witnesses - including the protected - who testified against him in the ongoing probe.

Former socialist health minister Andreas Loverdos on Friday was given an extension to prepare his defense before a corruption prosecutor in connection with the alleged bribery scandal involving the Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis.

Centre-Left Movement for Change MP and former health minister Andreas Loverdos, an associate professor of constitutional law at Panteio University, will be the first politician to testify as a suspect in the Novartis kickbacks case.

Parliament on Friday voted to lift the immunity of former Health Minister Andreas Loverdos,  the only politician currently implicated in the alleged bribery scandal  involving Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis and prominent politicians.
The cases against other politicians have been shelved due to a lack of evidence.

Centre-Left Movement for Change European Parliament candidate and psychiatrist Meni Malliori has blasted SYRIZA for exploiting the Novartis scandal to destroy its opponents and went as far as to suggest that the judicial probe of ten politicians for possible bribe-taking was ordered by the government.

An apology means nothing under the law, Panagiotis Pikrammenos said in a statement on Thursday. The mere mention of his name in the Novartis file 14 months ago was a premature yet pretty clear sign of what the affair's real objectives were.