MPs to vote on call for wider probe of ex-minister
Greek lawmakers are on Wednesday to vote on a proposal by ruling New Democracy to expand the scope of an investigation into a former minister of the leftist SYRIZA administration over his alleged meddling in a judicial investigation into bribery claims linked to Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis.
The vote, which is to take place Wednesday afternoon by secret ballot, will be on a proposal by 30 ND MPs for the probe to determine whether former alternate justice minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos should face a range of charges including abuse of power and blackmail.
SYRIZA is to boycott the vote after party leader and former premier Alexis Tsipras described the move to broaden the charges as a “fiasco,” while Papangelopoulos spoke of a “vindictive political persecution” against him.
Papangelopoulos is accused of trying to influence the course of an investigation into witness allegations that 10 prominent politicians had accepted bribes from Novartis.
