She gave more details on Karamanlis, saying she was referring his case over “the crime of misappropriation against the financial interests of the European Union and the Greek State, from which the damage caused exceeds a total of €120,000” in relation to repairs and upgrades of rail signals and switches.
The EPPO case file on Spirtzis and Karamanlis was referred to the Greek Supreme Court, and from there to the Greek parliament. Parliament then had to decide whether it would set up a preliminary inquiry committee to investigate whether the case should be brought before a special court.
The Greek Supreme Court sent the case files to Konstantinos Tasoulas, speaker of parliament, on June 29, according to a document seen by POLITICO.
In November, parliament considered whether to set up a preliminary investigative committee for former ministers, including Spirtzis and Karamanlis. The center-left Pasok party referred to EPPO’s findings during the debate and supported the idea. Ultimately, however, the proposal was rejected and the case was archived.
Spirtzis told POLITICO he personally had supported parliament setting up a preliminary investigation as a way to reject the allegations against him and added he had requested to be treated just as any other Greek citizen. He added there should be no statute of limitations because of the special regulation on ministers. “Unfortunately, New Democracy didn’t support my request,” he added.
¨While speaking to parliament in late November, he said the investigation would prove his innocence and provide “a definitive answer to New Democracy’s attempt to spread political responsibility.”