Kostas Vaxevanis’s dismissal on Thursday came hours after he went on trial .
”The court has ruled that you are innocent,” Judge Malia Volika said.

The list has been named after Christine Lagarde, the head of the International Monetary Fund who was the French finance minister when it was handed over two years ago.

The situation has sparked controversy in a crisis-torn country now in its fifth year of recession, where austerity measures have taken a heavy toll on the poorer sections of society. Greece’s international lenders have long demanded the country to crack down on tax evasion.

The list Vaxevanis published contains names of former ministers and businessmen, ship oweners, and even housewives.

In a statement made on Thursday, 46-year-old Vaxevanis said that the case against him was politically motivated. He said there was no evidence to support the charges against him.

“The Lagarde list” was believed forgotten for two years, but resurfaced in early October, when Greek media printed stories regarding other lists containing names of politicians allegedly probed by financial crimes.

Financial prosecutors probing the handling of the so-called Lagarde list have sent the case to Parliament, asking the House to investigate whether any politicians should face criminal charges for not using the list of Greeks with Swiss bank accounts to determine whether any were guilty of tax evasion, according to Kathimerini.

The move could lead to former Finance Minister Giorgos Papaconstantinou, who received the list in 2010 from his then French counterpart Christine Lagarde, and his successor Evangelos Venizelos, who also handled the list, facing prosecution, the newspaper reports.