Prosecutor seeks to clear former PM aide

An Athens prosecutor on Wednesday proposed that Theodoros Tsoukatos, a one-time aide to former socialist premier Costas Simitis, be cleared of charges in the long-running Siemens cash-for-contracts scandal.

Tsoukatos has admitted to collecting 1 million German marks on behalf of PASOK, money that he described as a campaign donation.

Prosecutor Eleni Skeparnia claimed that the money did not end up in the socialist party coffers but went to “unknown recipients.”

Tsoukatos’ lawyer Dionysios Gouskos welcomed the prosecutor’s recommendation, describing it as a “vindication for justice and logic.”