The proposal by the New Democracy members of Parliament was approved as the report of the investigative committee on «the investigation into the Tembi crime.».
The New Democracy party’s report, which was approved «by a majority,» will also include the minority opinions.
With the approval of this report, the work of the investigative committee that examined the causes of the train accident on February 28, 2023, has been completed. The committee’s report, along with the relevant evidence, will be submitted to the plenary session of Parliament, and – in accordance with the Rules of Procedure of the House – and following a motion by 60 members of Parliament, the findings will be placed on the agenda for debate.
The majority rapporteur. L. Tsavdaridis said that the conclusion reached by the New Democracy MPs will not bring back the 57 dead nor will it ease the grief of their parents and loved ones, but we hope that they will offer a ray of comfort to all of them, and a sense of catharsis for the collective memory of our society, by helping the Greek justice system fulfill its duty in the best possible way. «Because apologies, no matter how sincere they may be, are not enough,» said Mr. Tsavdaridis, noting, however, that New Democracy and the government, from the very first moment of the tragic accident, undertook a series of initiatives to clarify the circumstances surrounding it: It swiftly established an administrative committee to prepare an expert report, took immediate measures to support the victims’ families, and, through its prompt actions, facilitated the independent judiciary—and indeed to the highest degree—to begin investigating criminal liability. Above all, however, it agreed without delay to the proposal made by the opposition—specifically the KKE—to establish an investigative committee, a right that it itself, as the government, had proposed the parliamentary minority should have during the last constitutional revision. And in practice, Mr. Tsavdaridis continued, “it expedited the procedures so that the investigative committee that was established could summon and examine dozens of witnesses and gather a large number of documents, so that the findings could then be drafted [..] which we hope will significantly assist the work of justice.”.
«As members of the New Democracy party, we worked hard to assist swiftly and effectively in the search for clear answers. It was a matter of honor. Not only because this case must be resolved with the utmost respect for the memory of those involved, but also because the entire process had to be conducted in a manner and within a timeframe that would leave no room for suspicion of a cover-up,» said Mr. Tsavdaridis, noting that «we had to shed light on the shadow of these questions without leaving any room for anyone, in the name of petty partisan interests, to distort and exploit the truth, calling for sweeping, hasty condemnations, swayed by absurd rumors, conspiracy theories, and popular tribunals without any evidence, and with the sole purpose of partisan exploitation. Such tactics, unfortunately, were not absent during the committee’s proceedings. However, they certainly failed to influence the committee’s productive work, nor, of course, to overshadow the particular usefulness of the conclusions in its report,» said Mr. Tsavdaridis.
It should be noted that the New Democracy report concluded that «if the rules of the General Traffic Regulations had been strictly followed, the accident would not have occurred.».
We expected the New Democracy party to cite human error, but it is sad «that they turn a blind eye to the responsibilities of political figures,» said SYRIZA-PS spokesperson V. Kokkalis: It is regrettable that they turn a blind eye and lack the courage to say a word about the two crimes, namely the first crime that cost the lives of 57 of our fellow citizens and the second crime, immediately afterward, that of tampering with the crime scene,» said Mr. Kokkalis.
The SYRIZA lawmaker also reiterated his party’s proposal «that the investigative committee, through an interpretive statement, clarify its position that the ordinary courts have jurisdiction over crimes of omission committed in the exercise of ministerial duties, since, with regard to Article 86 of the Constitution and the protective framework for acts performed in the exercise of ministerial duties, it does not appear that the failure to perform a required lawful act is included.».
Milena Apostolaki, a member of parliament for PASOK-Movement for Change, said that the Investigative Committee will go down in history as an organized cover-up of the Tembi crime: The decision and the order to carry out the cover-up came from the prime minister and the Maximos Mansion, which consciously chose to rule out a thorough investigation and to protect political figures associated with him. His political responsibility is twofold, said Ms. Apostolaki, and she continued. It concerns the much-touted “staff state,” which, during his first four-year term, failed to ensure the existence of a comprehensive traffic signal – remote control system, due to the failure to complete Contract 717/2014, a fact that is directly causally linked to the tragedy at Tempi. However, it also concerns the subsequent orchestration of the cover-up: the order to cover up the site and the order to cover up the site, as well as the orchestration of the cover-up by those responsible during the investigative committee’s proceedings, emphasized PASOK MP M. Apostolaki.
The KKE’s initiative to establish a fact-finding committee helped, on the one hand, ensure that the crime was not forgotten, and, on the other hand, brought to light a great deal of substantial evidence regarding not only political but also criminal liability, emphasized KKE Member of Parliament Nikos Karathanassopoulos. Had it not been for this initiative by the KKE, it is highly likely that the crimes would have been buried, since all the bourgeois parties that have governed in recent decades are well aware that they bear serious responsibility for this tragic event, Mr. Karathanassopoulos said. He also pointed out that, although the motions to establish a preliminary investigation committee submitted by PASOK and SYRIZA were based on the European Prosecutor’s case file regarding financial damage to the EU resulting from the implementation of Decision 717, and not on the criminal incident at Tempi itself, the KKE «supported both of these motions.».
As Mr. Karathanassopoulos noted, the investigative committee’s proceedings confirmed the enormous political responsibility for the state of the railways and their safety, but criminal liability was also established for political figures—namely, all the ministers of transportation, as well as others—either through their actions or through significant omissions, undermined railway safety, thereby accepting the possibility—if not actually causing—the occurrence of the specific crime at Tempi.».
P. Sarakis, a member of parliament for the Greek Solution party, spoke of an attempt by the majority to derail the work of the investigative committee, P. Sarakis, spoke of an attempt by the majority to halt the committee’s progress, adding that, unfortunately, many of its members acted based purely on partisan criteria. He also noted that, due to the majority’s actions, the committee was denied access to critical documents from the case files currently being compiled and was not permitted to question key witnesses such as Mr. Karagiannis, Mr. Panagiotou, and the CEO of ‘Aktor.« Mr. Sarakis stated that the political leadership of the Ministry of Transportation, from 2012 onward, along with officials from the railway companies and the relevant contractors »bear the corresponding criminal liability and should be brought before the ordinary courts.”.
«We will not participate in your ritual,» said N. Iliopoulos on behalf of the New Left. «If the committee completes its work today, it will be the best proof that we are dealing with a committee that, from the very beginning, was set up for one and only one reason: to cover things up,» said Mr. Iliopoulos. At the same time, he spoke of “audacity” on the part of the majority, which believes—as he put it—that no security system could have prevented the accident, since the prime minister had stated on March 5, 2023, that if the remote control system had been fully implemented, this accident would have been practically avoided. Mr. Iliopoulos also referred to a public opinion poll, according to which eight out of ten citizens do not trust Parliament to shed light on the matter, and that this is something the the majority has “achieved.”.
P. Dimitriadis, a member of the Spartians parliamentary group, Niki parliamentary group, N. Vrettos, and independent MP K. Floros asked the investigative committee to clarify that «crimes committed by political figures through negligence in the performance of their ministerial duties fall under the jurisdiction of the ordinary courts.» They added that, if this position is not accepted by the majority, the proposal for a unanimous recommendation to establish a preliminary investigation committee for all of the aforementioned offenses with regard to the ministers involved.
Eleftheria Karageorgopoulou, a member of parliament from the Freedom Movement, El. Karageorgopoulou accused the majority MPs of seeking to silence both the party and its leader, Zoi Konstantopoulou. «Before the Greek people, you have once again murdered the dead, among them the true flowers of Greek society. Today, you have once again wounded those who were injured in the tragic and unprecedented crime at Tempi. It is certain that you have armed the relatives of all the victims to strengthen their lifelong struggle for justice for those who were unexpectedly, unjustly, and violently deprived of their right to life. In your well-known ruthless manner, you are coercing the release of a report and attempting to impose it, manipulating proceedings from the very start of the committee’s work today—in a blatantly abusive, unethical, and criminally punishable manner—to silence the Freedom Movement, said Ms. Karageorgopoulou, reiterating, on the one hand, Ms. Konstantopoulou’s intention to participate in the committee’s proceedings and, on the other hand, to file a motion for the recusal of the committee’s presiding officers.-
In the vote that followed, the members of parliament each voted in favor of the resolution issued by their respective parties, while the members of the KKE, the “Spartiates” parliamentary group, and independent MP K. Floros stated that they were calling for the investigative committee to continue its work, while the Freedom Movement also opposed the conclusion of the proceedings.
At the start of the session, Committee Chair D. Markopoulos thanked the members of Congress for their contribution to the work of the investigative committee, which lasted 4 months, with over 180 hours of meetings, many of which lasted 11 or 12 hours a day.
Mr. Markopoulos said that exceptions to the work of members of parliament included «situations that fall outside parliamentary ethics and practice, discord, disruptions, and all those things that are a disgrace to parliamentarianism—which we witnessed today from a former president of the Greek Parliament, now the president of a parliamentary party [..] «We all understand the exploitation of grief, the sensationalism, and the »political opportunity» that Ms. Konstantopoulou saw,« said Mr. Markopoulos. He even spoke of threats and intimidation by Ms. Konstantopoulou toward an electrician at the Parliament and the committee’s secretariat, while regarding the reference by the president of the Freedom Movement to criminal acts committed by the committee’s presidium, Mr. Markopoulos said »We, too, have every right to take any further legal action.”.
