Eleni Skeparnia

The prosecutor in the trial of suspects implicated in the Siemens cash-for-contracts scandal has called for 22 out of 54 defendants to be cleared of bribery charges and to only face charges of money laundering, citing the provisions of the country's new penal code.

The prosecutor, Eleni Skeparnia, noted that the new code changes the charge of active bribery to a misdemeanor.

The prosecutor in the trial of suspects implicated in the Siemens cash-for-contracts scandal has called for 22 out of 54 defendants to be cleared of bribery charges and to only face charges of money laundering, citing the provisions of the country's new penal code.

The prosecutor, Eleni Skeparnia, noted that the new code changes the charge of active bribery to a misdemeanor.

An Athens prosecutor on Wednesday proposed that Theodoros Tsoukatos, a one-time aide to former socialist premier Costas Simitis, be cleared of charges in the long-running Siemens cash-for-contracts scandal.

Tsoukatos has admitted to collecting 1 million German marks on behalf of PASOK, money that he described as a campaign donation.

With the trial of dozens implicated in the long-running Siemens cash-for-contracts scandal gradually coming to an end, a prosecutor on Monday claimed that the equivalent of 35 million euros in illicit payments were made to secure state deals.