The Greek parliament ordered former Socialist Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou to stand trial Thursday on charges of instigating a $200 million bank embezzlement scandal.
The 300-seat parliament voted 165-121 to lift immunity from prosecution for Papandreou and to set up a special 13-judge criminal court to try the socialist party leader.Papandreou, 70, is the first Greek prime minister charged with criminal wrongdoing in office. If convicted of receiving large sums of money over a long period of time, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
He was ordered last week to stand trial on separate charges of illegal telephone bugging of journalists, rival politicians, members of his own party and even personal friends during eight years in power. He could be sentenced to 20 years if convicted of those charges.
Four of Papandreou's top ministers also were ordered to stand trial on charges of complicity in the embezzlement scandal at the private Bank of Crete.
They were former Justice Minister Agamemnon Koutsoyorgas, former Public Order Minister George Petsos, former Economy Minister Panayiotis Roumeliotis and former Finance Minister Dimitris Tsovolas.
The bank scandal broke in October and was a factor in a crushing election defeat for Papandreou in June, ending eight years of rule by his Panhellenic Socialist Movement.
During debate before the vote, Papandreou rejected all allegations against him and said his political enemies were manipulating the scandal in an effort to destroy PASOK.
"The accusations against me are the products of the sick imagination of a fugitive swindler." He was referring to disgraced Greek banking and publishing tycoon George Koskotas, who accused Papandreou of approving a plan to skim interest payments on state accounts at the Bank of Crete.
Koskotas fled in November and is in a U.S. jail pending extradition hearings. He has admitted stealing money from the Bank of Crete, which he controlled until last year. More than $200 million is missing.
The decision to drag Papandreou into court means he will have to fight a national election campaign and defend himself in two criminal hearings all at the same time.
The conservative New Democracy party and a communist-led alliance joined forces in an unprecented right-left coalition in July, pledging to begin the prosecution of Papandreou and other former Socialist ministers and then call elections.
"We have kept our pledge and the political cleansing has begun," New Democracy leader Constantine Mitsotakis told parliament. "Elections will be held on Oct. 29 or Nov. 5 as we promised."