“The court’s decision at the second level confirms the political conspiracy orchestrated by the SYRIZA-ANEL government,” emphasized Antonis Samaras commenting on the decision by the Athens Three-Member Misdemeanor Court to convict on appeal the two former protected witnesses in the Novartis case, Filistor Destempasidis and Maria Marangeli.
“The two false witnesses knowingly lied with the sole purpose of tarnishing my honor and reputation. They wanted my political marginalization and silencing, mainly on national issues, and specifically regarding the Prespa Agreement. The conspirators thus dragged Justice and the institutions through the mud. The mastermind himself, Mr. Tsipras, admitted this in his book. I had declared from the beginning that I would take this case ‘to the end.’ That’s what I did. Because the only nationally beneficial path in politics is always the path of truth. For everyone and everything…,” he wrote specifically.
Η απόφαση της Δικαιοσύνης και στο δεύτερο βαθμό, πιστοποιεί την πολιτική σκευωρία που έστησε η κυβέρνηση ΣΥΡΙΖΑ-ΑΝΕΛ. Οι δύο ψευδομάρτυρες είπαν συνειδητά ψέματα με μόνο στόχο τη σπίλωση της τιμής και της υπόληψής μου. Ήθελαν την πολιτική περιθωριοποίηση και φίμωσή μου κυρίως…
— Σαμαράς Αντώνης (@samaras_antonis) January 13, 2026
Statement from Antonis Samaras’ lawyer
Through his statement, former prime minister Antonis Samaras’ lawyer, Dimitris Giannos, referred to what was presented in court for the second-degree trial of the former Novartis protected witnesses, describing it as “the biggest, most provocative and most hastily constructed political conspiracy, which directly targeted Democracy and its institutions.”
Regarding Filistor Destampasidis and Maria Marangeli, Dimitris Giannos characterizes them as “water carriers,” adding that “they proved that ultimately the stream of money had greater value for them than the full truth and dignity.” In conclusion, he states that “going ‘to the end’ remains a steadfast life goal and responsibility for Antonis Samaras, who did everything and will exhaust every legal possibility so that the protagonists of the conspiracy do not go unpunished, as has happened preventively until now.”
“Greek Justice ruled, also at the second level, that in the Novartis case, the supposedly ‘brave’ protected witnesses knowingly lied, with the purpose of smearing and persecuting former prime minister Antonis Samaras and other political figures. Two involved persons played the role of water carriers in the biggest, most provocative and most hastily constructed political conspiracy, which directly targeted Democracy and its institutions. An anti-corruption institution was instrumentalized in order to serve party and political interests with deep state methods, aiming to dissolve the political system and establish a regime!
The false witnesses proved that ultimately the stream of money had greater value for them than the full truth and dignity. No matter how much the protagonists of this conspiracy hid behind a hasty and convenient ruling, everyone knows the full truth, Tsipras himself revealed it in his book, the false witnesses and their advocates carefully ‘showed’ it throughout the first and second-degree proceedings! Going ‘to the end’ remains a steadfast life goal and responsibility for Antonis Samaras, who did everything and will exhaust every legal possibility so that the protagonists of the conspiracy do not go unpunished, as has happened preventively until now. Because truth, like responsibility, is never selective nor does it have versions. And forgetting was never a solution,” he stated specifically.
