Stratakis repeatedly demanded that MPs point to the passage in the case file that implicates him. ‘Where am I accused in the case file?’ he asked, at times breaking down in the hearing and accusing investigators and commentators of destroying his home and reputation. On several occasions he told lawmakers: ‘Leave my house alone. You will kill me. I cannot stand the injustice any more.’

The witness rejected all allegations linked to irregular payments and said he has never had his tax number blocked by OPEKEPE. He acknowledged that his bank accounts have been frozen in recent years, but said those measures were imposed by the social-security authority EFKA because of cooperative debts rather than any action by OPEKEPE. He said the freezes have damaged him financially and psychologically.

Stratakis described his relationship with Giorgos Xylouris as a friendship and a commercial one, he buys animals from Xylouris and they have served together on agricultural boards, but he denied any knowledge of Xylouris’s finances or any role as his accountant. He insisted repeatedly that, despite media portrayals and nicknames, he is simply Andreas, a local butcher and farmer who cultivates olives and keeps livestock.

Questioning ranged widely. He told the committee he cultivates 65 acres of olive trees and declared the subsidies he and close family members have received in recent years, saying checks by OPEKEPE had never found irregularities. He defended his brief role as an unpaid advisor to a minister as a technical appointment and said he had not been personally consulted about irregular decisions.

Stratakis described himself as ‘politically homeless’, saying he had previously voted or acted with different parties but that he was not a current party insider. He denied reports of expulsion from New Democracy and said he had never been formally registered as a party member.

Tensions in the hearing escalated when MPs criticised or sought to link his name to material in the case file. Stratakis challenged specific references, accusing some politicians and broadcasters of using his nickname to sell headlines and of stigmatising him. At one point he demanded retraction of what he called ‘unacceptable characterisations’.

Other committee members pressed him on technical questions about subsidy rules, livestock declarations and regional application figures. He conceded he could not speak to overall increases in livestock registrations in Crete and repeatedly asked that questions focus on evidence that directly concerns him.

Stratakis also said he had consulted lawyers and expected to mount a legal defence against allegations he described as politically motivated. He told MPs he wanted the record to show he had been repeatedly checked by OPEKEPE and had not been found at fault.

The hearing followed earlier testimony in which key figures did not appear, and the committee continues to take evidence as it seeks to clarify how subsidies were allocated and whether political and administrative networks enabled irregularities.

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