Two formerly protected witnesses at the center of Greece’s high-profile Novartis case were found guilty on Tuesday by the Athens Court of Appeal, marking a significant legal and political turning point and closing one of the country’s most divisive political scandals.
Filistoras Destembasidis and Maria Maraggeli were convicted of false testimony and false accusation after the court ruled they knowingly made untrue claims that pharmaceutical giant Novartis had bribed senior Greek officials.
The pair had accused 10 prominent politicians and officials, including former prime minister Antonis Samaras, Bank of Greece governor Yannis Stournaras, former ministers Evangelos Venizelos and Andreas Loverdos, and current minister Adonis Georgiadis of receiving kickbacks by pharmaceutical giant Novartis.
Their allegations triggered a political firestorm and years of bitter confrontation between rival parties.
Both defendants were appealing their first-instance convictions. The appeals court upheld the guilty verdicts and imposed suspended prison sentences with three-year suspensions.
Destembasidis was sentenced to 25 months, while Maraggeli received a 28-month sentence.
Former prime minister Antonis Samaras who was falsely implicated in the Novartis case.
The court rejected defense requests to recognize mitigating circumstances, including claims of good conduct before and after the offenses.
Reacting to the ruling, Samaras said the decision “certifies the political conspiracy set up by the Syriza-ANEL government,” adding that the witnesses “knowingly lied” to damage his reputation and sideline him politically, particularly over national issues such as the Prespa Agreement.
Former minister Andreas Loverdos, also named in the original accusations, welcomed the verdict, calling it a clear condemnation of what he described as a conspiracy orchestrated by Syriza and former prime minister Alexis Tsipras.
