The former minister called complaints against him by three prosecutors a fabricated lie Dimitris Papagelopoulos apologize to him Special Court denial of the accusations against him of interfering in the work of specific prosecutors.

In particular, regarding the complaints against him by the former head of the Corruption Prosecutor’s Office Eleni Raikouthe minister at the trial stated that “they are the product of her imagination and are obsessed with irrationality.”

He even added that the complaints against him were filed for reasons of political expediency due to Ms. Raikou’s relationship with a prominent politician.

Mr. Papagelopoulos also spoke about a trumped-up complaint in the case of prosecutor Panagiotis Athanasiou, who accused him of interfering in various cases. In particular, with regard to Athanasiou’s complaints that he was pressured to order – which was done – a tax audit against the owner of TV channel SKAI on the eve of the competition for television licenses, Mr. Papagelopoulos denied involvement and attributed the reports to the days in economic disputes that were valid at that time due to the upcoming competition.

“Big Scandal”

In his apology, the defendant explained that from the very beginning he doubted that the investigation into the illegal actions of Novartis would bring any result, arguing that his convictions were based on the fact that in such cases the foreign authorities did not provide any evidence. .

However, he said that he still believes today that “the Novartis scandal was a big scandal” and as for appeals prosecutor Georgia Zatani’s complaints about interference in the case of businessman Andreas Vgenopoulos, Mr. Papagelopoulos called this complaint also false and talked about ” absurdities.”

The ex-minister’s apology, which lasted for the second day yesterday, was not completed, as questions are expected from both members of the court and the prosecutor of the Special Court, Olga Smyrlis.

However, after its completion, a date will be set when the prosecutor will offer the guilt or innocence of the defendants, prosecutor Eleni Tulupakis and former minister Dimitris Papagelopoulos. The decision of the Special Court cannot be determined when it will be delivered, because if the process is not completed before the call for elections, the trial will be suspended and will begin after the reconvening of Parliament.