Greece: Verdict on Papandreou

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After 10 months of hearings, more than 100 witnesses and 50,000 pages of documents, the epic trial of former socialist Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou in the $210 million Bank of Crete scandal came to an end last week. The colossal tangle helped topple his flamboyant eight-year rule in 1989, but the court acquitted him.

The special tribunal concluded that prosecutors had not proved their case. They had charged that Papandreou ordered state companies to deposit funds in the private bank at a time when its owner was suspected of embezzlement. Papandreou was also accused of taking bribes from the bank owner.

The acquittal left Greeks little closer to the truth. But it did pump up the political jousting. After the verdict, Papandreou called for new elections to unseat the New Democracy government's small parliamentary majority.