Novartis

The two prosecutors who decided last week to remove the protective status of two key witnesses in the Novartis case said that there was no indication that they had been the subject of intimidation or retaliation. 

A total of 21 complaints filed by political figures against two former protected witnesses in the Novartis case - who had previously implicated these officials in bribery allegations - will be re-examined after being retrieved from the archive.

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.

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 Greek Parliament voted on Thursday to lift the immunity of SYRIZA MP Pavlos Polakis, following a defamation lawsuit filed against him by Health Minister Adonis Georgiadis.

Georgiadis sued Polakis for defamation after the latter made comments implying that Georgiadis was involved in the Novartis corruption case during his first tenure as Health Minister between 2013-2014.

Greetings! The old folks used to say, “a village with few houses is a bad village,” and that phrase came to mind with SYRIZA, who, after pulling each other’s hair out all weekend in the second basement of a hotel in Metaxourgeio, suddenly they remembered the Novartis scandal. So, it seems that journalist Lianis claimed someone apologized on behalf of Tsipras to Loverdos.

The Competition Commission is investigating pharmaceuticals firm Novartis for anti-competitive practices from 2009 to 2017.

The probe concerns a range of competitive medicines treating macular diseases.

A report found Novartis aimed to prevent market access to competitors.

The commission will consider the report findings at a December 4 meeting. 

Political turmoil and reactions have erupted after “Proto Thema” revealed that protected witnesses in the Novartis case shared €56 million. Given the witnesses’ personal gain, as disclosed by the article, it is now necessary to lift their protected status and remove their anonymity. The critical question remains: who prompted them to make the allegations that fueled the Novartis conspiracy?