Thessaloniki surgeon released pending trial on bribery charges
The chief of the children’s surgery unit at the Georgios Gennimatas Hospital in the northern port city of Thessaloniki was released on Friday from custody pending trial on charges of accepting a 1,000 bribe in order to operate on a 20-year-old patient.
He was also ordered to pay 10,000 euros in bail.
In his deposition, the surgeon, 59, claimed that the patient gave him the cash as a token of appreciation ahead of the operation.
He also argued that he was arrested by officers of the internal affairs squad just as he was returning the money to the 20-year-old.
Besides the felony charges for bribery, the doctor is also facing misdemeanor charges for falsifying the patient’s age, registering him as a 14-year-old so that he could be operated on in the children’s unit.
