Eight years following claims that ten Greek politicians had received bribes from multinational pharmaceutical corporation Novartis, former protected witnesses Filistor Destempasidis (“Maximos Sarafis”) and Maria Marangeli (“Aikaterini Kelesi”) were found guilty by Greece’s Single-Member Court of perjury and false accusation.
On Monday, September 15, the court sentenced Destempasidis to 25 months in prison and Marangeli to 33 months. Both sentences were suspended, as the judges recognized the mitigating factor of a previously lawful life. However, the court rejected the defense’s request to also consider the mitigating factor of “non-base motives.”
Prosecutor’s argument for the defendants
During the proceedings, the prosecutor argued that both defendants should be credited for their previously lawful conduct. It was noted that Destempasidis attended every hearing with dignity, maintained a clean criminal record, and fully cooperated with the court.
By contrast, Marangeli was absent from most of the trial although she did appear to testify. The prosecutor nevertheless recommended recognition of the same mitigating factor in her case.
Reactions from political figures
The verdict prompted immediate political reactions.
Former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’ lawyer, Dimitris Giannos, for instance, called the decision “the beginning of the end,” emphasizing that the Greek people deserve to know the full truth. He also suggested that certain individuals—including Former PM Alexis Tsipras, former minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos, and judicial officials—had been shielded during the affair.
Adonis Georgiadis’ lawyer, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, described the decision as “moral and political vindication” for the health minister, arguing that the convictions protect democracy from those who might exploit false witnesses for political gain.
Andreas Loverdos, a former minister, celebrated the ruling, declaring that “the conspiracies have collapsed, the false witnesses were exposed, injustice has been defeated, and justice was served.”
Background of Novartis case in Greece
Destempasidis and Marangeli had provided extensive testimony to then-corruption prosecutor Eleni Touloupaki, accusing former PM Antonis Samaras and former Deputy Prime Minister Panagiotis Pikrammenos as well as eight other senior politicians: Yiannis Stournaras, Dimitris Avramopoulos, Adonis Georgiadis, Evangelos Venizelos, Andreas Lykourentzos, Marios Salmas, Andreas Loverdos, and Giorgos Koutroumanis.
They alleged that the politicians accepted bribes from Konstantinos Frouzis, the former head of Novartis in Greece, to favor the pharmaceutical company. None of these allegations were proven. Nine cases were shelved, and Loverdos was formally cleared by a court ruling.
“Only in Greece does the Novartis scandal remain without punishment” SYRIZA states
The opposition party SYRIZA-Progressive Alliance said in a statement that “something extremely dangerous is happening in our country: the institution of protected witnesses, an internationally recognized good practice that leads to the exposure of scandals and fraud, is effectively being abolished due to the partisan interests of New Democracy, causing a major setback for the rule of law.
The Novartis case is, by its own admission, an international scandal, yet only in Greece it remains uninvestigated and unpunished. In the United States, Novartis admitted to criminal practices in Greece, reached a settlement with the U.S. government, and paid a total of $346 million through an out-of-court agreement.
Why has nothing been done yet in our country? How is it possible that France secured €385 million in compensation for the case, while in Greece nothing is moving forward?
It should be noted that in both the US and France, the fines also took into account Novartis’ illegal practices in Greece.”
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