Supreme Court sends Novartis case file to parliament
The Supreme Court's prosecutor's office sent to Parliament on Friday a file on the ongoing inquiry into the handling of the Novartis case, so that MPs can decide whether to lift the immunity of politicians named.
The probe emerged during the course of the main inquiry into the alleged bribery of politicians and doctors by the Swiss drugs manufacturer Novartis.
Former conservative premier Antonis Samaras and former socialist finance minister Evangelos Venizelos, who have testified in the case on the handling of the inquiry, have accused SYRIZA's former justice minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos of intervening to implicate political opponents and former premier Alexis Tsipras of having knowledge of this intervention.
Supreme Court deputy prosecutor Ioannis Angelis, who has also come forward with accusations of political meddling, has also claimed that an unnamed politician dubbed “Rasputin” played a pivotal role in influencing the course of the inquiry.
The Parliament will also decide whether to set up an inquiry into possible political influence.
