Tsipras should reveal whether he knew about Papangelopoulos, says gov’t
The government kept the pressure on the leader of the main opposition on Wednesday, with government spokesman Stelios Petsas saying that Alexis Tsipras must reveal whether he knew about the alleged efforts of his former alternate justice minister to tamper with judicial proceedings.
“It is a question of democracy,” Petsas told private Skai radio station, commenting on the content of an illicitly obtained audio tape which suggests that Dimitris Papangelopoulos had his “own agenda” and was “making a lot of money” from backroom deals during his term as alternate justice minister in the previous SYRIZA administration.
Petsas also reiterated his call on Tsipras to eject Nikos Pappas, SYRIZA’s former minister of state, from the party’s parliamentary group following the release of the recordings, in which the minister is hearing Greek-Israeli businessman Sabby Mionis claim that he is being harassed by judicial officials for failing to pay a bribe to Papangelopoulos in 2016.
On Tuesday, Tsipras defended his former ministers, accusing the conservative government of “using mafia tactics.”
