He was sentenced for the involvement of ND MP Marios Salmas in the Novartis scandal – The conviction concerns Nikos Maniadakis
By Ioanna Mandrou
Nikos Maniadakis, the former protected witness for the Novartis scandal, was sentenced to 20 months in prison, following a lawsuit by ND MP and former Minister of Health Marios Salmas.
The sentencing decision of Nikos Maniadakis was issued late on Thursday night, after a 12-hour hearing and the court, the Three-member Misdemeanor Court of Athens found the former protected witness for Novartis guilty of all three offenses included in the lawsuit, i.e. false accusation , perjury and defamation.
The defendant, apologizing, claimed that what he testified to the Corruption Prosecutors about Salma’s involvement in the Novartis scandal, was not based on evidence, but added to justify the testimony against the former minister, that he was pressured by the then prosecutors who were conducting the investigation into the illegal practices of the pharmaceutical giant.
The former Minister of Health Marios Salmas also rejected the proposal of Nikos Maniadakis’ advocates that there be a written statement on his part to rehabilitate what he had testified, with the result that the conviction is the seizure of the long-hour trial.
After the court decision, Marios Salmas said, among other things: “I said from the beginning that I will make sure that the hood of the protected witness who slandered me comes off and I did it. I said he would be punished and I followed through. I said it and I did it because no one is holding me for anything.”
It is noted that more than two years ago, the Novartis case was filed for Mario Salma, while at the same time it was filed for all the politicians accused by the protected witnesses, as their allegations were not proven.
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