Ruling on status of witnesses expected Monday

Supreme Court authorities will rule Monday on the status of the witness protection regime for key whistleblowers who have been summoned to testify by the parliamentary committee conducting a preliminary inquiry into the handling of the Novartis bribery case by the previous administration. 

On Thursday, a delegation of the committee petitioned Supreme Court prosecutors to look into the status of key whistleblowers after two of them failed to show up to testify last week.
Members of the committee called on prosecutors to ensure that protected witnesses be examined.

Meanwhile Supreme Court deputy prosecutor Panayiotis Brakoumatsos said that the law stipulates, among other things, that protected witnesses should have a say in the way they are examined.

According to parliamentary sources, the prosecutor's statement will be taken into account by the committee in...