Antonis

The main conservative opposition party New Democracy on Wednesday submitted to Parliament its proposal for the formation of an investigative committee to probe whether former health ministers Panayiotis Kouroublis and Andreas Xanthos, as well as Alternate Health Minister Pavlos Polakis, are guilty of breaches of faith. 

Journalist Costas Vaxevanis was arrested on Monday following a legal suit lodged against him by former conservative prime minister Antonis Samaras for defamation.

Shortly before his arrest, an appeals court in Athens had exonerated him over another defamation suit against him brought by Lina Nikolopoulou, the wife of Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras.

Bomb disposal experts were dispatched to the Ambelokipi police precinct just north of central Athens on Monday afternoon to take control of a hand grenade handed in by a citizen, who claimed he had found it on the street.

The journalist Costas Vaxevanis was arrested on Monday following a legal suit lodged against him by former conservative prime minister Antonis Samaras for defamation.

Vaxevanis had been at the Athens appeals court for the hearing of another legal suit against him brought by Lina Nikolopoulou, the wife of Bank of Greece Governor Yannis Stournaras.

Former prime minister Antonis Samaras has filed a defamation suit against journalist Costas Vaxevanis over a Facebook post last week in which he accuses the ex-conservative leader of lying about his involvement in the Novartis case.

A number of citizens were asked whether they had been keeping abreast of developments during a television program this week discussing Wednesday's parliamentary debate into whether a special committee should probe allegations that 10 top politicians received bribes from drug company Novartis.

Greek MPs were poised to vote in the early hours of Thursday morning to vote on whether 10 Greek politicians alleged to have accepted bribes from Swiss drugs manufacturer Novartis should face investigation by a House committee. 

The voting followed several hours of vehement debate involving the politicians named in the contentious prosecutors' report as well as party leaders. 

Two former Greek government ministers have filed criminal lawsuits against witnesses who allegedly implicated them and other former officials in a pharmaceuticals scandal.

Former conservative prime minister Antonis Samaras has filed a suit against current Greek Premier Alexis Tsipras, accusing him of being behind a plot to tarnish opposition politicians by implicating them in the Novartis bribery claims.

For a good detective story to work, famed Greek-American crime writer George Pelecanos told me in Washington some 20 years ago that it needs a solid plot that can stand up to the reader's scrutiny, down to the smallest detail.