Today at noon, the trial of the former Minister of State Nikos Pappas and the businessman Christos Kalogritsa for the case of the tender for television licenses in 2016 is expected to begin at the Special Court on the responsibility of ministers.
The trial will take place at the Supreme Court, where the case of former Deputy Justice Minister Dimitris Papangelopoulos and former head of the Corruption Prosecutor's Office Eleni Touloupaki is already being tried. These two trials will be conducted in parallel, with different compositions and alternately. That is to say, one trial will be held on one day and the other on the next.
It is recalled that by a verdict of the Judicial Council of the Special Court on Ministerial Responsibility, Mr. Pappas was referred to trial for the offence of breach of duty (misdemeanour), regarding his handling of the case of the tender for television licences in 2016.
Along with Mr. Pappas, Mr. Kalogritsa is also indicted for the offence of instigating the breach of duty (misdemeanour) of the former Minister of State.
It is recalled that Mr Kalogritsa has denounced that the contract with the Arab interests (United Arab Emirates) construction company Consolidated Contractors Company (CCC) of the Khoury brothers (Samer, Tawfic and Wael Khoury) was fictitious and the contract was drawn up to enable his company to enter the tender for the TV licences.
Pappas denies the allegations and has defended the legality of the licensing procedure for television stations. On the contrary, Kalogritsa has testified that «I knew that I would be accused because of what I revealed. I did it in order to restore my name and reputation».
The President of the Special Court will be the Advocate General Ioanna Klapa-Christodoulea.
The composition of the court, in order of seniority, is as follows:
From the Supreme Court
Regular members
Dimitra Zoi,
Eleni Katsoulis,
Demetria Struza-Xenou or Kokoletsi,
Marulio Apergi,
Maria Varka and
Georgia Kagtsimagli
Alternate members
Olga Sztaki-Bonatu,
Christos Katsianis and
Maria Koufoudi
From the Council of State
Regular members
Spyridoula Chrysikopoulou (vice-president of the CoE),
Michael Pikramenos (vice-president of the CoE),
Elias Mazos,
Maria Sotiropoulou,
Stavroula Ktistaki and
Cassiani Marino
Alternate members
Georgios Tsimekas (vice-president of the CoE),
Agoritsa Draka and
Iphigenia Argyraki
The prosecutor will be Olga Smyrli, Deputy Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, who is also the prosecutor in the ongoing trial of Mr Papaggelopoulos. Ms Smyrli's deputy is the Deputy Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Dimitris Asprogerakas.
Finally, 16 witnesses have already been called, while Pappas' legal representatives will be the lawyers Yannis Mantzouranis, Vangelis Georgakopoulos and Theodoros Mantas. Counsel for Chr. Kalogritsa will be PASOK-KINAL MP Andreas Loverdos and Angelos Karachalios.
Pan. Tsiboukis
