Maximos Sarafis

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.

One the two key whistleblowers summoned to testify by the parliamentary committee conducting a preliminary inquiry into the handling of the Novartis bribery case by the former SYRIZA administration has repeated previous claims that he has no evidence against politicians, Kathimerini understands. 

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.

The special parliamentary committee inquiring into the merit of claims of political interference in the Novartis bribery case is entitled to issue a bench warrant against a protected witness that failed to present himself on Tuesday afternoon at a hearing scheduled at the Athens police headquarters, sources inside the prosecutor's office told Kathimerini on Wednesday.

The head of the parliamentary committee investigating the case of former cabinet minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos has asked for the forced presence of the hitherto protected witness known by the name Maximos Sarafis as he failed to present himself on Tuesday afternoon at the hearing scheduled at the Athens police headquarters.