In room 168 “Pavlos Bakoyannis” of the Greek Parliament lies the legal case file sent to Parliament by the European prosecutor and concerns the OPEKEPE case. The room has been open since 10 AM, while access to the room will be granted to MPs designated by their parliamentary groups. Those who cross the threshold of “168” are prohibited from taking copies or photographs, only allowed to take notes. An hour later, at 11 AM on Saturday, members of the Ethics Committee were given a copy of the case file concerning 11 New Democracy MPs for the same case, requesting the lifting of their immunity. It should be noted that the Ethics Committee will convene on Holy Tuesday to formulate the members’ opinion, while the final decision will rest with the Plenary, which will likely convene on April 21.
Read: Karamanlis announces during the day that he will not be a candidate
Messages to OPEKEPE president – “We must fix this at all costs”
Particular attention is being given to what is mentioned about Trikala MP Katerina Papakosta and Serres MP Kostas Ach. Karamanlis. According to the case file, the matter concerning Ms. Papakosta relates to a producer’s case as well as intervention in livestock capital. The then OPEKEPE president Dimitris Melas appears as the direct perpetrator, with the MP allegedly being the moral instigator. This is because Ms. Papakosta appears to exert pressure and guide the process. It is characteristic that from August 2021 to October of the same year, many phone communications and written messages to the then OPEKEPE president were recorded, with phrases captured such as “we must fix this at all costs” and “we will be exposed.”
The findings state the following about the MP: “In Athens and Trikala, on 24/08/2021, 27/09/2021 and 08/10/2021, Aikaterini PAPAKOSTA, daughter of Dimitrios, MP for Trikala from 2019 to present, through multiple acts constituting continuation of the same crime, proceeded with the above-mentioned communication through phone calls and written messages with OPEKEPE President Dimitrios MELAS (direct perpetrator), causing him through continuous harassment, persuasion, persistence, encouragement and advice, exploiting her political and institutional position (‘do you want me to remind you’, ‘we will be exposed’, ‘we must fix this at all costs’), to decide to commit the punishable act of breach of trust at felony level which he allegedly committed, having personal communication with him, influencing his will toward committing the harmful punishable act, acting with knowledge and accepting its commission. The aforementioned MP knew the illegal and fraudulent character of her request, a fact demonstrated by her admission that there was a risk of exposure (‘we will be exposed’)…”
According to the evidence, a producer allegedly declared false and excessive numbers of animals, aiming to secure larger grazing areas and increased subsidies from the National Reserve. Meanwhile, some of these animals appear to be non-existent, while they were subsequently fictitiously declared as “slaughtered” or deleted to cover up the irregularity. The total amount allegedly collected for the period 2021–2024 amounts to 142,249.81 euros.
“Karamanlis wants it”
Regarding the former Minister of Transport and Infrastructure, he is mentioned in the context of dialogue between then OPEKEPE president Dimitris Melas and an associate of then Minister of Agricultural Development Spyros Livanos. According to the findings, in their phone conversation, the associate tells the OPEKEPE president: “…this KARAMANLIS case… that he’s interested in… which is thirty-seven (37) people, with one of them with organics [meaning Konstantinos KARAMANLIS son of Achilleas, MP for Serres from 2015 to present]. Dimitrios MELAS tells him it concerns ‘MP.’ and P.A. agrees. P.A. then asks: ‘How will we handle this to fix it?'”
Furthermore, it is mentioned that the associate tells the OPEKEPE president: “Nikos told me if nothing is affected and we have no problem, now we went in together I didn’t know about the issue… And he tells me, of course, Karamanlis wants it, we’ll do it.”
