EU Commissioner Dimitris Avramopoulos is the latest Greek politician to go on the offensive against allegations pointing to his involvement in the Novartis kickbacks and price-fixing probe, a case that has poisoned the already acrimonious domestic political arena even more.
Avramopoulos filed a lawsuit alleging perjury, libel and false accusation against two of three "protected witnesses" whose testimony - mostly given over the last three months in a nearly three-year investigation - points to the "involvement" by 10 Greek lawmakers in an alleged kickbacks scheme - two prime ministers and former ministers.
Former Greek prime minister Antonis Samaras was the first to file a lawsuit against his successor, leftist Premier Alexis Tsipras, the alternate justice minister and three prosecutors, charging, on his part, that a government-led conspiracy is underway to sully the reputation of political opponents.of the current poll-trailing leftist-rightist coalition government.
Avramopoulos, who is appointed to a crucial portfolio at the EU Commission, given that he oversees the Union's Migration, Home Affairs and Citizenship policy, also demanded an investigation on the "moral accomplices" in the case, as he claimed.
"From the two indictments, which total two-and-a-half thousand pages, there are only two paragraphs that refer to my name, from two (unidentified) perjurers, and there's not a word by them that is not, obviously and self-evidently, a lie... Their inclusion in the protected witness regime should be re-examined by the supreme court's deputy prosecutor, so that relevant provisions are rescinded and the perjurers be led before justice and punished for their criminal actions..." was a statement issued by his office.
