The social demand “reopens” the file Tempi – Critical interventions of the Justice one year later

One year since the deadly train accident in Tempe and the widespread demand for accountability was heard loudly throughout Greece. Thousands of people poured into the streets to pay their respects to the 57 victims of the fatal collision of the two trains demanding Justice.

A Justice that is called to “take off wings” to cover the lost ground and listen to the widespread demand for accountability.

Designation of a new expert

On the day of the black anniversary, which Greece mourns, the special appellate investigator, Sotiris Bakaimis, proceeding with three new actions so that no shadow is left, according to information, proceeds with the appointment of a new expert, after the differences that have arisen in various critical issues between the findings of the technical advisor appointed by relatives of victims, and the expert initially appointed by the judicial authorities.

In particular, according to what the in wrote, the appellant investigator will appoint a new expert from the National Technical University of Athens to answer specific questions, mainly in relation to the explosion that accompanied the collision of the two trains.

New expert coming soon

At the same time, requests have been submitted to the appellant investigator by relatives of the victims for the immediate dispatch of the flammable material to a special laboratory that can safely certify what it was, as well as videos – parts of which have been deleted – to fully capture the course of the commercial train.

Extension of the interrogation

In fact, the actions of the relatives seem to be taking place as the Minister of Justice, Giorgos Floridis, revealed that the interrogation will be extended due to the two reasons above as this material will be sent to special laboratories.

Specifically, George Floridis said (One Channel) “the material will be sent to laboratories in Canada and England” and “probably the interrogation will take some time”.

The government official also referred to the intervention of the prosecutor of the Supreme Court, who requested a thorough investigation of every complaint and memorandum filed by the relatives of the victims in the Tempe tragedy, with the minister noting that “no aspect should be left uninvestigated of the case and without the necessary certification”.

Seeking the truth

With the developments running and the “children’s diseases” of delays not being cured, the estimate expressed by the Minister of Justice for the start of the trial next June seems improbable.

Justice sources, without specifying the date, indicated that according to estimates the criminal trial may begin soon as, based on the new Codes, the case file will be referred directly to the Tripartite Criminal Appeals Court without the mediation of the procedural filter of the council based on which until now the justice is ruling on the impeachment or not of all the accused.

The case file is at the Examining Office

The third fact of the day is that, on the day of the one-year anniversary of the accident in Tempi, the case file on the tragedy arrived from the appellant investigator of Larissa to the president of the Investigative Committee of the Parliament, Dimitris Markopoulos.

However, on Tuesday, the majority of the Investigative Committee “froze” the requests for an extension of the work (SYRIZA) and a new meeting (KKE) despite the transmission of the case file by the Larisa Appeals Prosecutor’s Office, which conducts the main investigation.

Memorial service by the families of the victims at the site of the tragedy in Tempi

“After receiving the information, the members of the investigation committee will have access to the material transmitted by the Larissa Appeals Prosecutor’s Office, which is conducting the main investigation,” the bureau announced, not for their return to the seats of the Parliament, but only “in order to evaluate the information and to judge whether and which part of them they will include in the drafting of their conclusion”.

The conclusion of EDAPO that caused the domino of developments

For the relatives of the victims, the wounds have not been closed and they ask for justice for their own people and denounce a series of omissions that lead to the cover-up of the crime.

At noon on Monday (26/02), survivors and relatives of the victims, with bravery and faith, held a press conference in order to inform about the course of the case.

At the offices of ESIEA, the members of the investigation committee of independent experts (EDAPO), in their final conclusion, came to, among other things, a shocking finding: “Only the Photosignaling was enough to avoid the collision.”

A year later

“Total lack of safety culture in the Railways”

They submitted it to the investigating authorities having concluded “masses of human errors and omissions” which “found fertile ground in an environment of total disregard for regulations and procedures”.

And there are worse, a year later, they observe that “the gradual breakdown of systems and procedures has not led to any measures being taken (reduction of speeds, thinning of routes, additional staff, additional controls)”.

They find that even today, a year later, “the overall lack of safety culture in the Railways does not allow for the substantial utilization of the conclusions from the specific accident in order to prevent the next one”.

⇒ The plenary session of the country’s bar associations commemorated the one-year anniversary of the tragic train accident in Tempi by contributing to the judicial investigation of the case, by submitting a supplementary memorandum accompanied by a technical expert report.

Citizens should have absolute trust in the Greek Justice

The message that the truth about the unspeakable tragedy of Tempe will shine through is sent by the Union of Judges and Prosecutors. The Union calls on the citizens to have absolute trust in the Greek Justice and its Officers and points out that for the investigation of criminal responsibilities of political figures, the competence based on the Constitution belongs to the Parliament, raising once again the question of the constitutional review regarding the search for criminal responsibilities of political figures by regular justice.

In the 57 lost souls/onlarissa.gr

The Justice of… Kyriakos Mitsotakis

The prime minister sees human errors and general gaps in the state over time behind the accident in Tempe. According to Kyriakos Mitsotakis, “the Parliament examined dozens of witnesses with hundreds of pieces of evidence, investigating how human errors met fatally with the eternal gaps of the state”. However, as he says, “Justice is the one that will shed light on the case, as we all want.”

Finally, the prime minister pointed out that the weather will not be an ally in overcoming the “national trauma”.