Novartis

Although the domestic political scene may be preoccupied with the Novartis scandal, the government's top priority is clearly placing the country back on the international investment map and exploiting the positive climate that has emerged.

It remained unclear on Thursday whether the special Parliament committee which will be set up in early October to probe the possible mishandling of the alleged Novartis bribery case by the previous government will deem then that it is indeed the appropriate body to examine the case or if it will proceed to examine the testimonies of key figures and issue a finding.

There can be no doubt that the very real Novartis scandal was never really investigated in depth but instead was used to slander and politically annihilate a number of politicians whom the previous government viewed as enemies.

Undoubtedly the leadership of SYRIZA exploited the baseless charges to target these particular individuals.

Former alternate justice minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos hit back on Thursday over allegations that he attempted to influence an ongoing inquiry into the alleged bribery scandal involving Swiss drugs manufacturer Novartis to incriminate political rivals.

After Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis' return from New York on September 29, a plenary session of Parliament is set to discuss a proposal by ruling New Democracy for the creation of a special investigative committee to probe "the clear signs" that former alternate justice minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos intervened in the alleged bribery scandal involving Swiss drugs manufacturer Novartis t

Center-right New Democracy is to propose the creation of a special investigative committee to probe former alternate justice minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos in connection with possible interventions in the alleged bribery scandal involving Swiss drugs manufacturer Novartis, ND's party secretary Stavros Kalafatis said in a written statement on Wednesday. 

The Supreme Court prosecutor's office has proposed an investigation into the possible mishandling of the alleged Novartis bribery case by former alternate justice minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos with the knowledge of ex prime minister Alexis Tsipras.
The case file was opened in Parliament on Wednesday after it was sent by the prosecutor's office on Monday.

Greek Parliament is reportedly expected to propose the formation of a House committee to investigate the handling by former Justice Minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos of the alleged bribery scandal involving prominent politicians and the Novartis pharmaceutical company.

The Greek government is considering separating the case file on the alleged intervention of former justice minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos and former prime minister Alexis Tsipras in the ongoing Novartis inquiry, and agreeing to the creation of a special investigative committee only for the former, according to information.

An investigation into the handling of a controversial judicial investigation that pointed to the alleged bribery of Greek politicians by Swiss pharmaceuticals firm Novartis got under way on Tuesday with the testimony of the country's top corruption prosecutor Eleni Touloupaki.