Samaras accuses Tsipras in lawsuit of masterminding plot to slander him

In an unprecedented move, ex-PM Antonis Samaras has filed a lawsuit against Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, Corruption Prosecutor Eleni Touloupaki, Alternate Justice Minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos, and the two protected witnesses in the Novartis kickbacks investigation, alleging that they set up a criminal organisation with the aim of slanderously implicating him in the Novartis kickbacks scandal.

In a televised statement, Samaras said that the sitting prime minister is responsible for “setting up a miserable plot” that is “so poorly designed that it collapses without further ado”, and that the “it is patently obvious that the allegations are slanderous”.

Samaras claimed that the plot was so hasty that it was carried out the day after the huge Macedonian naming protest.

“At a moment that Greece is confronted with great challenges and threats, they are attempting with lies to malign their opponents and divide the Greek people. The only way not to play the game of the mudslingers is to put them on trial and to prove their plot.

“Mr. Tsipras will not impose a [Venezuelan President Nicolas] Maduro regime in Greece. The slanderers forget that our government hit corruption effectively in the drugs sector, drastically reducing drugs expenditures,” Samaras said.