For the decision of the Financial Prosecutor to lift the protection status of protected witnesses for the case Novartis talk to the former minister Andreas Loverdos.

“What we had requested of 4 of the 10 defendants, namely myself and Antonis Samaras, Adonis Georgiadis, and Yiannis Stournaras, was for the hoods to come off, to find out who they are, as there was no longer any reason for them to be considered witnesses of public interest” , said Mr. Loverdos, who pointed out that “whatever they said, it turned out to be non-existent and as it was revealed in the Parliament, some many millions must have fallen”.

At the same time, he also referred to the case of Maniadakis, who chose to “unmask himself”, seeing that there was no other way and not succumbing to blackmail to tell about himself, Mr. Georgiadis and Mr. Samaras. “Those involved in such cases in America are compensated by the state. Beyond that, the Prosecutor’s Office yesterday relied on the Floridis provision which provides that if those who are protected as witnesses of public interest prove that they have not contributed to the case, then this protection can be removed.”

“The witnesses must tell us who made them tell such monstrous lies”

He then underlined that “this is a scam that I endured with effort, sacrifice and pain until the end”, while adding that the point now is for these people to talk about who made them tell such monstrous lies”, recalling:

“One of the two had come to speak to the Parliament and had even sworn that he did not know me personally. You know, the institution of protected witnesses is very important, the way it is used in this particular case is a scam.”

Asked what he will do from now on, the former minister informed that the previously filed lawsuits are now coming to light, as they are now being updated and there is no statute of limitations issue. “These remedies are necessary for us, but above all they are necessary for our democracy. Greece must not go through this again.”

At the same time, he expressed his belief that the case was instigated by ministers of the SYRIZA government. “Is there any doubt that this whole process was encouraged by then government tips?” Even the prime minister at the time later admitted that there should have been a different management.”