Eleni Touloupaki

The Greek Justice system has removed the “masks” from protected witnesses “Maximos Sarafis” and “Aikaterini Kelesi,” almost six years after the Novartis case emerged under the SYRIZA-ANEL government as one of Greece’s largest scandals, which has since proven to be a major political fabrication.

The examination of the witnesses before the special tribunal on the responsibility of ministers ended on Tuesday and will resume on January 23 with the testimony of the former head of the Corruption Prosecutor's Office, Eleni Touloupaki.

The former ruling New Democracy party MEP, and publisher of the free newspaper Free Sunday, George Kyrtsos, in a post on Twitter, condemned the prosecution of two journalists, Costas Vaxevanis and Gianna Papadakou, and a prosecutor, Eleni Touloupaki.

He said EU funds for Greece were at risk of being cut when the rule of law is violated, comparing Greece with Poland and Hungary.

A relevant magistrate in the financial crimes prosecutor's office on Tuesday extended, by two years, the protected status for two controversial witnesses who had leveled allegations against 10 top office-holders, including past prime ministers, of receiving kickbacks from Novartis' Greek subsidiaries.

Greece's chief corruption prosecutor, Eleni Touloupaki, who is facing investigation over the judicial handling of the Novartis bribery probe, claims to have been a victim of "a coordinated attempt at moral extermination." 

Greece's chief corruption prosecutor, Eleni Touloupaki, and two of her close associates testified on Wednesday as suspects in an ongoing probe into the judicial handling of the Novartis bribery investigation, defending themselves on charges of abuse of power, dereliction of duty and making false statements.

Greece's chief corruption prosecutor, Eleni Touloupaki, and two other officials in her service have been summoned as suspects in an ongoing probe into the judicial handling of the Novartis bribery case.

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.

Konstantinos Frouzis, former vice president and general manager of Novartis Geece, claimed on Thursday that he was pressured by corruption prosecutors to testify against politicians.

The case concerns the alleged bribery scandal involving the Swiss pharmaceutical company and Greek politicians and doctors.

In a third day of testimony before a parliamentary committee probing possible political interference in the Novartis investigation, a key witness on Friday suggested that he and three protected witnesses were used as part of an attempt to frame the 10 politicians named in the original probe, Kathimerini understands.