Greek Prosecutor Calls Papandreou, Papaconstantinou on 2009-Revised Deficit

A bombshell with a weight of at least one mega-tone was dropped in the picturesque city of Athens on Friday afternoon. Thus while Greek government officials have been dealing with the Troika on the left and the private Greek bond holders on the right. Economic prosecutor Grigoris Peponis requested in a letter to prosecutor of Supreme Court that former prime minister George Papandreou, former Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou and other members of the economic team of the previous government would be checked on ‘any possible criminal liabilities” concerning the budget deficit of 2009 that was upwards revised by the Greek Statistics Authority (ELSTAT). Peponis requested that the file would be submitted to the Greek Parliament.

The economic prosecutor mentions the names of 18 people who have testified on the case and underlines that ”in the majority of testimonies, it has been explicitly referred to artificial swelling and arbitrary determination of the public deficit in 2009 at one hand, and possible responsibilities of the then Prime Minister, members of the then government and the then Ministers of Finance.”
The move caused concerns at the Supreme Court because the president of the ELSTAT had not be invited to testify by the prosecutor.
The move caused surprise in the coalition government partner PASOK because the last think Papandreou-supporters would need now is an investigation against their party leader – even if he is thinking of resigning form the party leadership.
The move caused no reaction in the public opinion becasue no Greek is willing to believe that any Greek politician would ever testify for anything or be held responsible.