Witness protection in Novartis case lifted

The Financial Prosecutor's Office has decided to lift the protection status of witnesses in a bribery case involving Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, doctors and public officials following requests from political figures whose names were implicated in the case.

This decision, taken following recommendations from the responsible prosecutors examining the case, will now enable former prime minister Antonis Samaras, the current Bank of Greece Governor Yiannis Stournaras, Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis, and former minister Andreas Loverdos to all take legal action against the protected witnesses. 

All four had appealed against the protection of two witnesses, given the code names "Ekaterini Kelesi" and "Maximos Sarafis."

The Novartis case has involved probes into allegations that doctors and public officials had accepted kickbacks from the company in a...