Deputy prosecutor requests reopening of lawsuits in pharma bribe case
In a new twist in the ongoing probe into the Novartis case, Deputy Supreme Court Prosecutor Ioannis Angelis submitted a report to the court’s prosecutor’s office calling for the reopening of three criminal lawsuits filed by three prominent politicians who were implicated in the alleged bribery investigation.
Angelis, who filed his 10-page report on Wednesday afternoon, cites new evidence which requires a fresh look into the allegations made by former Conservative prime minister Antonis Samaras, former PASOK finance minister Evangelos Venizelos and EU Commissioner for Migration Dimitris Avramopoulos.
Last year, Samaras, Venizelos and Avramopoulos moved against the prosecutors investigating the bribes allegedly paid by Swiss drugmaker Novartis to boost drug sales and prices in Greece, the secret witnesses who testified against them, and even against Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and Alternate Justice Minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos.
Angelis, who initially supervised the corruption investigation, resigned in January this year, claiming that judicial officials mismanaged and skewed the probe, and that an unnamed government official influenced the investigation.
