MPs to vote this week on indictment of ex-minister

Following the completion last week of a parliamentary investigation into former leftist alternate justice minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos and whether he sought to influence the course of the Novartis bribery investigation, MPs are this week to decide whether to indict him. 

MPS are on Wednesday to discuss the case for indicting Papangelopoulos ahead of a secret vote in the evening. The minister faces charges including accepting bribes, attempted extortion, forming a criminal organization and morally instigating abuse of power. The latter charge relates to Papangelopoulos’ alleged influence over top corruption prosecutor Eleni Touloupaki during his stint as minister. 

Touloupaki herself faces charges of abuse of power in connection to her investigation into the case, in which 10 politicians were incriminated, though no corroborating evidence was produced beyond witness claims.