Polakis reveals three protected witnesses were Novartis employees

Amidst an outcry over the fact that two former prime ministers and eight ex-ministers have been implicated in a huge scandal on the sole basis testimony from three anonymous, protected witnesses, Alternate Health Minister Stavros Polakis has revealed that the witnesses are former employees of the pharmaceutical giant Novartis.

“The dirt is emerging in public view. I have proven with specific evidence, two years ago, that out of Greece’s 320 billion euro debt, 85 billion is black money paid in the health sector.

“The witness depositions are proof. The witnesses are company employees, who began to chirp and hand over company officials who were on the take and had assets they could not justify. Not that they are good boys, but that is how the affair began,” Polakis said.

Regarding Novartis, Polakis said that, “Like other pharmaceutical companies, Novartis has robbed the entire planet, and now their dirt is coming out.”

New Democracy MP Adonis Georgiadis, one of the former health ministers implicated in the affair, blasted Polakis over his remarks.

“The fact that Polakis knows who the ‘protected’ witnesses are, changes everything. They can no longer remain anonymous, as the government knows who they are. Secondly, they have a vested interest in making charges, so their testimony is illegal. Polakis burned them,” Georgiadis said in a tweet.

in.gr