If the General Traffic Regulation had been strictly observed by all involved parties, the accident would not have happened, emphasized the rapporteur of the majority, L. Tsavdaridis opening the debate in the Plenary of the Parliament on the conclusion of the commission of inquiry on “the investigation of the crime of Tempe”. As Mr. Tsavdaridis said, the tragic accident was one of the darkest moments in the modern history of our country, not only because it left behind 57 dead and plunged their families into mourning, but also because it brought to the surface, with the most violent manner, all the age-old pathologies of public administration, which, combined with enormous human errors, have plunged our entire nation into suffering and led to the pandemic demand for speedy justice.”

The ND MP rejected the opposition’s accusations of a cover-up, even emphasizing the ruling party’s contribution to the investigation of the case, accepting the KKE’s proposal to set up a commission of inquiry.

At the same time, he noted that the opinion that the operation of the train is unsafe where automated systems are not working is illogical, which was confirmed by almost all the witnesses, Mr. Tsavdaridis added.

The ND MP said that “the attribution of responsibility to those directly involved in the tragic accident, as well as to the persons who held responsible positions in the relevant organizations, as well as to the companies, is already in the hands of regular justice”, as well as that “the political responsibility objectively it was undertaken by the then minister Kostas Karamanlis, with his immediate resignation on the day of the tragic accident, an act which, among other things, facilitated the control of the case”.

Regarding the proposals by PASOK and SYRIZA for the establishment of a preliminary investigation, Mr. Tsavdaridis said that they had nothing to do with the accident, since they were based on the investigation by the European prosecutor, which only concerned the financial management of the 717 contract.

Mr. Tsavdaridis closed his presentation by saying that no finding and no punishment is enough to erase the pain of the relatives, that he stands before them with humility, and that he respects their struggle for justice.

Famellos: The Greek Parliament has the responsibility of revealing the truth

“Ladies and gentlemen of the Commonwealth of Nations, you all have a very big responsibility: If you will do everything possible to reveal the truth or you will bear the stigma of the cover-up. And this responsibility rests with the Greek Parliament, but also with the Greek Judiciary which investigates the accident”, stressed the president of the SYRIZA Committee of the Red Cross, PS Sokratis Famellos, speaking to the Parliament during the debate on the conclusion of the Tempi Inquiry.

He said that “despite the concerted efforts of the government and its friendly media, to reduce the social footprint of this crime, as we saw on Monday with the silence of Mrs. mark our country. And the crime of Tempe is magnified every day by the concerted effort of Mr. Mitsotakis and the ND to cover up the responsibilities”.

He commented that “today’s absence of Mr. Mitsotakis is not simply a confirmation of the cover-up, but an insult to the victims of the crime and the universal social demand for justice”. He said that “Mr. Mitsotakis being absent today does not participate in the debate of the Greek Parliament on justice – and do not attempt offsets with other cases on the law on the responsibility of ministers because we are talking about the biggest railway accident in the country”. He argued that society does not believe the government and that “the cover-up scandal has crossed the borders of our country”.

Today the curtain falls on an “exam-parody” the minority rapporteur said in his speech, and MP of SYRIZA-PS, V. Kokkalis describing as “insulting and embarrassing” the majority’s finding of sole liability of the station master and drivers. He also criticized the majority for not accepting the summons of witnesses examined by the Larissa investigator, as well as for its “refusal” for a preliminary investigation against Mr. Ah. Karamanlis based on the European Prosecutor’s investigation into the “717” contract.

Mr. Kokkalis held the responsibility of Mr. Karamanlis saying that the ND must accept his immunity as accepted by his predecessor, Mr. Spirtzis. You say you have confidence in the judiciary, even though it cannot indict a minister, due to the relevant law “on the responsibility of ministers” said Mr. Kokkalis, calling on the majority to agree to a statement that the responsible ministers will go to the natural judge for investigation. Finally, he said that the absence of the prime minister from the debate is an admission of guilt.

In the request of the relatives of the Tempi victims, Mrs. Karystianou and Mr. Aslanidis in the Parliament, to recognize the primacy of EU law over national law, and the non-application of provisions related to potential responsibilities of ministers, the MP of PASOK-Movement for Change M. Apostolakis. He even spoke of “an organized cover-up of the biggest railway tragedy in our country”, which has a name: It is a conscious political decision and weighting of the prime minister who chooses to protect his ministers. As he said, during the recent debate on the passing of the draft law for the establishment of branches of foreign universities in Greece, the governing majority supported with prussian reasons the primacy of EU law over the constitutional provisions of Article 16. business interests. I wonder, will he do the same now that it’s not about business interests?’ said Mrs. Apostolaki. He also criticized the ruling majority for refusing to accept his party’s request to set up a preliminary investigation committee based on the finding of the European Prosecutor on the non-completion of the 717 convention, which he said was causally related to the Tempe accident .

For a “conclusion-shame” and for a “monument of cover-up and apotheosis of individual responsibility, to hide the truth and the huge political and especially criminal responsibilities” that fall on the majority, she spoke in her speech Member of Parliament of the KKE, M. Komninakas. He even noted that the KKE’s initiative to set up the investigation committee played a decisive role in preventing this effort from succeeding. “And don’t be ashamed that you allegedly voted for the commission of inquiry because you allegedly wanted everything to come to light. You did the need, honor, because you know that it could be voted without the votes of the majority, in contrast to the pre-investigation, which, as expected, you voted against,” said Mrs. Komninaka. He also noted that despite the “unacceptable strategies of the majority to block witnesses, as well as the costless confrontations with the other parties, each of you seeking to hide the responsibilities of your own period of government, the commission of inquiry allowed many and revealing facts to come to the surface , for the performance of both the political and above all the criminal responsibilities, in all their scope”.

About the “greatest modern human sacrifice on the altar of corruption and entanglement, the sinful triangle: political figures, officials and large contractors, spoke the Member of Parliament of Hellenic Solution, P. Sarakis. As he said, it is an “unspeakable tragedy in which a political, criminal, but also moral crime is hidden”. According to Mr. Sarakis, “Greek society, beyond and above party preferences, realizes with complete clarity and sobriety, that there is a methodical and systematic attempt to divert the course of the investigation of the crime of Tempi, in a specific direction: That of of attributing the accident to human error, and, away from the responsibilities of those who allowed the sinful contract to be executed 717 […] to serve the voracious financial interests of national contractors, with their partners, multinational monopoly construction groups”.

THE MP of the New Left, P. Perkas said the commission of inquiry was a “shame” for the Greek Parliament. Addressing the MPs of the coalition, she said that “your participation in the cover-up will follow you in your political life and not only in your life”. “You supported the convenient for you proposal of the KKE for an investigation and not a pre-investigation”, he added, noting that “”on good morning”, we had exclusion of committee members, refusal of a cross-party presidency and exclusion of key witnesses”.

In his speech, Mr Member of Parliament of Spartans, P. Dimitriadis. As he said, the majority’s conclusion is incomplete and leaves too many dark spots, due to its decision to stop the commission’s work without calling essential witnesses and before the case file of the appellant investigator Larisa was submitted to the commission. Despite their assurances that ample light will be shed and for an open list of witnesses, those who spoke about the causes of the fire after the collision of the trains were not summoned, Mr. Dimitriadis said.

An attack on the prime minister and the ND was launched by MP of KO Niki, T. Oikonomopoulos saying that “the most problematic remnant of the Greek state, for 50 years, is you and what you represent: The corrupt party dictatorship by a dragon of politicians, who neither love nor care about the Greek people”. “When a crime of the executive power is washed away by members of the legislative power, pretending to be the judicial power, this is called a violation of the separation of powers,” said Mr. Oikonomopoulos.

“We will never allow the shame of relegating the memory of the 57 dead of Tempe to the land of oblivion,” said in her speech Member of Parliament for Freedom of Navigation, El. Karageorgopoulou. “Together with the relatives of the murdered, together with the 1,350,000 citizens who signed the resolution, together with all the citizens of the country, who thirst for truth, memory, justice, democracy and freedom, we will fight for the completion of the primordial process: hubris, ati, nemesis and tisis” said Mrs. Karageorgopoulou.