WORLD : Greek Court Calls in Papandreou
A special magistrate issued orders today for police to bring in former Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou for pretrial questioning in a bank scandal in which he is charged, court officials said.
A defiant Papandreou, in power from 1981 to 1989, rejected a summons by the magistrate last month, saying he had answered all allegations in a speech to Parliament shortly before being formally charged in 1989.
Papandreou, 71, and three other former Socialist ministers are expected to go on trial next March on charges of accepting bribes and stolen money in connection with a $200-million bank embezzlement scandal at the private Bank of Crete.
Papandreou accepted political responsibility for the scandal, which contributed heavily to his election defeat in June, 1989, but has denied any criminal wrongdoing.
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