Bench warrants issued in line with legal procedure, prosecutor says
The bench warrants ordering two witnesses to appear before a special parliamentary committee looking into the merit of claims of political interference in the Novartis bribery case were issued in line with legal principle, Supreme Court deputy prosecutor Panagiotis Brakoumatsos said in a letter to the committee on Thursday.
The warrants were issued after the two protected witnesses, known as Maximos Sarafis and Ekaterini Kelesi, failed this week to present themselves for scheduled hearings at Athens Police Headquarters (GADA).
Meanwhile, Brakoumatsos, who oversees the corruption prosecutor’s office, said that the examination of protected witnesses can take place through the use of electronic or audiovisual media so as to protect their identity. The details of the procedure were laid out in a ministerial decision.
