Samaras

Novartis suits by former ministers, PM are shelved

A prosecutor on Thursday shelved legal suits lodged against government officials and prosecutors by former prime minister Antonis Samaras, ex-finance minister Evangelos Venizelos and former health minister Dimitris Avramopoulos, now European migration commissioner, over bribery claims involving Swiss drugs firm Novartis.

Center-left party cautious over conservative ex-PM's overture

The response by the center-left Movement of Change on Tuesday to an overture made by former conservative prime minister Antonis Samaras via an article in Sunday's Kathimerini was particularly cautious.

In his piece, Samaras described the new center-left party as a "necessary partner" in a broader coalition of the types that governed Greece from 2012 to 2015.

Ex-PM will not appear before Novartis panel

Former conservative prime minister Antonis Samaras will not be appearing next week before a parliamentary inquiry into allegations that several high-raking ex-officials received bribes from drugs firm Novartis.

In a letter addressed to the chairman of the committee, leftist SYRIZA MP Theodoros Dritas, Samaras said that he has "no intention" of attending next Tuesday's session.

Opposition MPs walk out of cross-party Novartis committee

All opposition walked out of Tuesday's session of a parliamentary committee that is supposed to be investigating the Novartis affair as coalition lawmakers insisted that the probe focus on whether the panel is in fact competent to continue with the investigation or whether it should be returned to prosecutors. 

Gov't handling of Novartis case 'attack on the rule of law,' ex-PM says

Former conservative prime minister Antonis Samaras has accused Greece's leftist-led government of using the Novartis bribery case to smear the reputations of its political rivals in a campaign that amounts to an "unprecedented attack on independent institutions and the rule of law."

Pages