Former SYRIZA Minister of State Nikos Pappas has been indicted by an irrevocable order of the Judicial Council to a Special Court for the offense of breach of duty, regarding his handling of the case of the television licensing tenders in 2016.

Along with Pappas, the businessman Christos Kalogritsas is also referred for the crime of moral instigation in the breach of duty of the former Minister of State.

The Judicial Council (parliament 4/2022 ) fully adopted the proposal of the Prosecutor of the Judicial Council, Georgia Adelini. According to the law on criminal liability of ministers, this council is not subject to any procedural appeal or objection and is final.

The Greek Parliament had indicted the former Minister of State for breach of duty to a degree of a misdemeanour.

Kalogritsas has complained that the contract with the Lebanese company CCC for the creation of a mall in the United Arab Emirates was fictitious and was drawn up so that his company could enter the competition for television licenses.

Furthermore, Kalogritsas attributes a central role to the former Minister of State, claiming that he brought the involved parties in contact and organised the whole process.

On his part, Mr. Pappas, from the first moment, has denied all the charges and has defended the legality of the licensing process of the television stations, while he has spoken about the instrumentalization of Greek Justice by the current government.

The plenary session of the Council of State had annulled the relevant law on television licenses, while the press leaks from the closed-door meetings of the judges of the Court of Cassation, in this case, had led – as he had claimed – to the resignation at the time of the President of the Supreme Court of Cassation Nikolaos Sakellariou.