Ekaterini Kelesi

Two key witnesses in the long-running Novartis bribery scandal in Greece, code-named "Ekaterini Kelesi" and "Maximos Sarafis," have lost their protected status after a decision by two Greek prosecutors on Thursday.

Minister of Health Adonis Georgiadis, who is now able to take legal action against protected witnesses in a bribery case involving Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis, doctors and public officials as a result of a decision Thursday by the Financial Prosecutor's Office to lift the protection status of the witnesses, described the development as "a day of vindication" with a post on X.  

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.

The bench warrants ordering two witnesses to appear before a special parliamentary committee looking into the merit of claims of political interference in the Novartis bribery case were issued in line with legal principle, Supreme Court deputy prosecutor Panagiotis Brakoumatsos said in a letter to the committee on Thursday.

The second of two protected witnesses who had alleged that politicians had taken kickbacks from pharmaceutical giant Novartis did not keep a scheduled appointment with the parliamentary committee probing the handling of the Novartis scandal.

Two bench warrants have been issued ordering two witnesses to appear before a special parliamentary committee looking into the merit of claims of political interference in the Novartis bribery case.