Appearing in an Athens court on Monday, along with another 18 defendants facing money-laundering and kickbacks charges linked to armament procurements programs, former Greek defence minister Akis Tsohatzopoulos pleaded not guilty and denied all the charges against him. The trial of the decade began early in the morning before an Athens criminal appeals court. Following the session, the trial was adjourned and will resume after the Easter holiday, on May 8.
"I absolutely and categorically deny the charges, with which there is a systematic attempt to give the impression that there was some illegal criminal organisation, a gang, whose purpose was to launder money and that behind this, supposedly, was the defence minister of Greece, when for six years we did the best that could be done for the country," Tsohatzopoulos said, looking stern and visibly irritated.The former minister said he felt insulted that he was obliged to constantly repeat the same things, claiming the existence of a "centrally guided course" behind his prosecution.
"For 12 months I have been held on remand, myself and my wife and my daughter; it is unfair, there is state force exercised against us," he complained.He asked the court to release his wife Vicky Stamatis, who he said was in prison on his account.
Unlike the minister, his cousin and long-term partner Nikos Zigras pleaded guilty to all the charges to which he had confessed in testimony to an examining magistrate, saying that he had been embroiled in the affair by Tsohatzopoulos.
"I apologise to everyone and ask for your mercy," he told the court.Speaking through her counsel, the minister's wife said that her only crime was to marry the former government vice-president and she denied knowing any of the other defendants with the exception of Zigras, whom she claimed to know only on a social level.
All the remaining defendants pleaded not guilty and denied the charges against them, while the lawyer representing Tsohatzopoulos' daughter and ex-wife said his clients were unable to be present in the courtroom due to their "psychosomatic condition".
Earlier, there was tension in the court when the deputy public prosecutor Panagiotis Panagiotopoulos was reading out the charges. The defence protested that the public prosecutor's tone was "too intense" and that he appeared to be making an address rather than merely announcing the charges.
Panagiotopoulos, on his part, countered that the court did not say anything other than the words used in the indictment.
The defence has also petitioned that the Greek state be expelled from the court as a civil party, with a court decision on the request still pending.
Tsohatzopoulos and another 18 defendants are accused of taking kickbacks to grant Greek state armament contracts and of "political money laundering".
The former minister, who is in custody pending trial, on Friday sent letters to 10 former members of the Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defence (KYSEA) of that period, asking them to appear in court and testify at his trial. All were in office when the purchase of the German submarines and the Russian-designed anti-aircraft missile system TOR M1 was approved but none of the witnesses proposed by Tsohatzopoulos attended.
Those on the stand, apart from Tsohatzopoulos, include his wife Vicky Stamati, his daughter Areti Tsohatzopoulou, his German ex-wife Gudrun, a close aide and former armaments secretary general Yannis Sbokos and 13 other individuals, for whom there is incriminating evidence indicating active participation in the scandal.
Tsohatzopoulos is accused of laundering money using offshore firms that he owned, which he used for real estate transactions or other investment activities to legalize the money he received as kickbacks from military procurement deals signed when he was defence minister. Based on the charges against, he was assisted in his actions by businessmen, lawyers, his former and present wife and his daughter.
Other defendants include his brother-in-law, Vicky Stamati's brother Panagiotis, accountant Efrosyni Lambropoulou, land developer Asterios Economidis, businessman George Sahpatzidis, lawyer Talita Tsekoura, the representative of the Morelia offshore company Horatio Melas, alleged co-owners of the offshore company Torcaso Constantinos Antoniadis and Pantelis Zahariadis, alleged owner of the offshore company Nobilis Nicos Georgoulakis.
The trial is taking place in the Areios Paghos (Supreme Court) building's ceremonies hall.
Five defendants - Tsohatzopoulos' daughter Areti , his former wife Gudrun, Melas, Georgoulakis and Antoniadis - did not show up for the proceedings and were represented by state-appointed defence attorneys.
The court went into recess for approximately one hour, while the court president informed all the witnesses present that they may leave, given that the first day will be taken up with procedural matters.
AMNA
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