Greek Parliament approves probe into ex-minister

Greek MPs have approved the creation of a parliamentary committee to probe possible crimes committed by former alternate justice minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos in connection with the Novartis investigation.

The conservative proposal received 173 yes-votes, while 83 MPs voted against. The Greek Communist Party (KKE), Greek Solution and Mera25 abstained from the vote.

The panel is to determine whether Papangelopoulos sought to incriminate political rivals of leftist SYRIZA by suggesting that they were paid bribes by the Swiss pharmaceutical firm Novartis.