Tempe: Supreme Court intervention on the complaints of the relatives

Order order to thoroughly investigate all the complaints and allegations of the relatives of the victims of Tempi, sent by the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Georgia Adilini, to the Prosecutor's Office of Appeals of Larissa.

The senior prosecutor cites the protests of the victims' relatives, who claim unanswered questions and a cover-up of responsibilities, arguing that «there is a need for you to ensure that any allegations and complaints made by relatives of victims or victims and their advocates are investigated and answered, after evaluation, in your discretion, so that the conclusion of the interrogation to leave no doubt that the prosecution and investigating authorities have investigated every aspect of the case, fully performing their duty».

The entire order is as follows:

With our letter-order no. 1706/1-3-2023, we entrusted you with the supreme supervision of the investigative work of the Tempi case, in accordance with article 32 (a) of the Code of Criminal Procedure.

It is undeniable the superhuman efforts that for a year now the prosecution and investigating authorities have been making to investigate the above crime in depth and in the shortest possible time, sparing no time and effort, as we should, in order to identify all the culprits and bring them to trial in an extremely short time, A goal to which we are very close at the moment, but which is by no means an end in itself, nor can it be an obstacle to the administration of justice itself, leading to certain investigative actions or excluding others that may be necessary in order to find the truth.

The practitioners of the profession of counsel for the prosecution or the defence in this case and the entire legal world of the country and beyond know very well that never before in our judicial history has anything like this been achieved, without this meaning that this function of justice should not be self-evident and ordinary rather than extraordinary.

In the above context, as you are aware, we have forwarded to you without delay every memorandum and request of relatives of victims submitted to us, including their complaints about the causes of the fire explosion, the existence of various flammable and toxic substances in the area, the alteration of the crime scene, with possible loss of evidence, etc., which, moreover, have been submitted to you and to the Investigating Magistrate, in order to be investigated, and you have, as we know, taken the necessary steps to this end.

Despite the above, however, protests and complaints by victims' relatives about unanswered questions, evidence that was not taken into account or not properly assessed, investigative actions that were omitted, and even about the cover-up of responsibilities by the justice system, continue to spread within the country and abroad, supported by some of the press.
In view of the above, it is imperative that you ensure that every allegation and complaint made by relatives of victims or victims and their lawyers is investigated and answered, after evaluation, in your judgment, so that the end of the investigation leaves no doubt that the prosecution and investigative authorities have investigated every aspect of the case, fully performing their duty.