The prosecutor recounted in her testimony to the Special Court the merciless war she received when she conducted relevant investigations for politicians in the Novartis case. Eleni Tulupakiwho is on trial together with former Minister (Deputy in the Ministry of Justice) Dimitris Papagelopoulos.

The prosecutor spoke about harsh attacks from politicians, the media, and disciplinary action for her handling of the Novartis case, confirming the legality of her actions and stressing that she referred the relevant case to ten politicians based on the Ministerial Accountability Act.

At the same time, she stressed that in her day, cases against seven out of ten politicians were in the archive, and with respect to the rest, she said that the current prosecutor for economic affairs, Christos Bardakis, handled the cases.

Attacks and war

“Let me,” he stressed, watching what was happening, “that this is the most coordinated attempt to exterminate bailiffs in the post-political history of our country. “Since then, imprisoned politicians have launched a merciless war with the strong support of their parties and the active support of the media,” Ms. Tulupaki stressed.

And she added, referring to the attacks and behind-the-scenes actions she said aimed at seizing her case files: “While we continued our investigation into Novartis and political figures, we were subject to both investigation and scrutiny for our prosecutorial investigation. , of untried political figures. There was not a day when we did not give explanations to either the Supreme Court or Parliament. At the same time, systematic efforts were made to remove the case from the control of the Corruption Prosecutor’s Office, its natural judge, and transfer it to other hands. After the failure of this project, the only way to remove the case was to abolish the Corruption Prosecutor’s Office and create a new Service, which “overnight” included the Novartis case.

Submission 7

Subsequently, Eleni Tulupaki mentioned that seven of the ten politicians involved had been prosecuted. “While we had the case file, and despite daily threats and pressure, we completed the investigation of seven out of ten political figures, considering that they should be placed in the Archive. With respect to two of the remaining persons, our investigation was not completed and was continued by Mr. Bardakis, and with regard to the third, we considered that there were sufficient grounds for criminal prosecution. Our impartiality and the absence of any interference in our work is confirmed by the fact that, on the one hand, seven statements occurred before the 2019 elections, on the other hand, criminal proceedings against a political person were initiated after the elections. , with the permission of the new parliament – the new government. In other words, our behavior proves that we have left no room for the political exploitation of our actions.”

Relationship with Papagelopoulos

As regards the accusation brought against him, namely, that he did not send to Parliament, on the basis of the Ministerial Responsibility Law, the complaints of KIN.ALL. To the then Minister of Health Panagiotis Kurumplis, the prosecutor denied this, saying that she sent them when she became aware, without delay.

“In conclusion,” he stressed, “when I first hear about these reports, I immediately send them to Parliament. I received the knowledge at the end of January 2018 and on February 5, 2018 I immediately send it to the Parliament.”

“In any case,” he stressed, “these documents were not even perceived by my predecessors as compromising messages,” while he added that as soon as he became aware of the content of the messages, he formed the opinion that they did not have accusatory content. and were not legitimately sent to parliament by their predecessors in the corrupt prosecutor’s office.

As for her relationship with the under investigation Minister Dimitris Papagelopoulos, who is charged with moral complicity in her crime (abuse of power), Ms Tulupaki denied having any relationship other than a purely official one.

In particular, referring to the fact that she did not receive suggestions or tips from anyone regarding the conduct of business, she emphasized: “Mr. Papagelopoulos presents himself as the moral culprit of my actions. I want to tell you that I have not had a dialogue with any politician. But I was in constant inner dialogue with my conscience and with God.”

The culmination of a personal Calvary

The accused prosecutor, completing his apology, noted with emphasis: “Today is the culmination of a hard journey. Personal Calvary, which began 4 years ago. A period during which I and my accomplices were called a “criminal gang”, a “criminal gang”, and I received daily threats that I would “go to jail” and that I would be “scratched”.

One day we woke up and discovered that everyone in the prosecutor’s office had nicknames: Mrs. Frosso, Gova, Undertaker, Traveler, Rasputin, etc., which we never heard because they were never pronounced, representing a decadent image of the judicial system. , which, as it turned out, existed only in the perception of those who invented them …

A characteristic feature of my personal harassment during this time is that strangers broke into my residence twice, taking only files and notes from my office, sending me a clear message about the danger I am in for my investigations as an anti-corruption prosecutor. First of all, my colleagues and I received the maximum possible referral. I wonder if there are any more derogatory accusations than those attributed to me? We allegedly blackmailed witnesses, gave them the contents of their testimony, fabricated evidence, and prosecuted ten political figures.

And he concluded, “Let me say, as I watch this, that this is the most coordinated bailiff extermination attempt in the post-political history of our country. In addition, the course of this case proves something else, no less important. That there are judges not only in Berlin, but also in Athens. It was the judges of the Supreme Judicial Council, despite the drums of slander and distortion of the truth, who made the decision, handing over to you the last baton of the final cleansing of this tragedy, not only for me, but also for my colleagues who are unjustly accused, but also for Greek justice in general, which is serious suffered from a true fraud.”

Ms. Tulupaki spoke in detail about the judicial path and positions she held from time to time, as well as the fact that she was elected head of the Anti-Corruption Prosecutor’s Office. Prior to the apology, her lawyer, Yiannis Mantzouranis, complained that she was notified of the disciplinary action on the day of the apology, stressing that “some people don’t even respect her apology, they still go after her” and added that “these things hurt the prestige of justice.”