Greece’s Supreme Court is set to rule Monday on whether to renew the mandates of three prosecutors serving in the Greek delegation of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO), in a decision with significant consequences for some of the country’s most high-profile ongoing investigations.
The ruling will come from the Supreme Judicial Council, a 15-member body that includes Supreme Court President Anastasia Papadopoulou and Prosecutor Konstantinos Tzavellas, with the remaining members selected by lot. A decision is expected late Monday afternoon. Under Greek law, the Supreme Court — known in Greek as the Areios Pagos — has jurisdiction over the postings and service changes of all judicial and prosecutorial officers.
The three prosecutors under review are Popi Papandreou, Charikleia Thanou and Dionysis Mouzakis. Papandreou has been at the center of some of Greece’s most politically charged cases, including the OPEKEPE agricultural subsidy scandal and the investigation into Contract 717, linked to the 2023 Tempi train disaster. Papandreou and Mouzakis are also the prosecutors behind the requests to strip parliamentary immunity from New Democracy lawmakers in connection with the OPEKEPE case.
All three had their mandates renewed last November by EPPO Chief Prosecutor Laura Kovesi. Under Greek law, national judicial authorities also have a role in the process, and the matter now falls before the Supreme Court.
Kovesi has made her position clear. In a letter to the court she acknowledged its authority over the process, and at the Delphi Economic Forum she stated she sees no reason for the three mandates not to be renewed, warning that a refusal would be taken to the European Court of Justice under the EPPO regulation.
The rapporteur for Monday’s session is Supreme Court Vice President Pan. Lymperopoulos. The council has requested detailed records of the three prosecutors’ work within the EPPO delegation, and a study by retired Deputy Prosecutor Georgios Skiadaresis on the procedure for lifting parliamentary immunity has been submitted for its consideration. Other prosecutors have also applied for the three positions should the council opt against renewal.
Outright non-renewal is considered unlikely. The most probable outcomes are a full renewal of all three mandates, or a partial renewal for a defined period to allow the prosecutors to complete their open case files, including their investigation into the OPEKEPE farm subsidy scandal.




