Supreme court sends Novartis case file to parliament

The Supreme Court prosecution has initiated proceedings to send the file on the Novartis case to Parliament so that it can investigate possible criminal acts by political persons.

The file was forwarded to the justice ministry after witnesses named political figures as having allegedly intervened in the investigation into the pharmeceutical company.

Supreme Court Deputy Prosecutor Evangelos Zacharis, who is investigating the case, has now stopped that line of inquiry and sent the file directly to the justice ministry, which must now forward the case to Parliament within the next few days.

Following this, Zacharis and his colleague Lambros Sofoulakis will continue their preliminary investigation into the non-political figures involved in the case, examining witnesses and taking their testimony.

According to sources, among those who will be asked to testify is Bank of Greece governor Yiannis Stournaras, who had sued the corruption prosecutors in the past for involving his name in the Novartis investigation.