“We all want the relatives of the victims to find justice. But this will be done by the procedures laid down and not by the construction of culprits. Let the evidence come and the evidence that exists lead to those who bear responsibility”, said the parliamentary representative of the ND Thanos Pleuris, during the debate that is developing in the plenary session. “Politics is completely different from criminal liability. New Democracy invites everyone to read the conclusion. It is certain that this finding will be processed by the judiciary and will help the judiciary to form a judicial conviction based on the research we have done”, said Mr. Pleuris and underlined: we will all be judged. We first want to look at people’s relatives and let them know that ’till the end’ is true. But ‘to the end’ means that the case will be clarified and we will not allow anyone to take political advantage of this case.”

Mr. Pleuris responded mainly to the basic charge formulated by the opposition parties, for “covering up the crime of Tempi”. As he specifically pointed out:

– Those who accuse the coalition of a cover-up must consider that the votes of New Democracy were crucial for the formation of an inquiry committee and that all the work of the inquiry committee is forwarded to the appellant investigator. The examination did a task that was very important, because the chronic pathologies were demonstrated. These pathologies are also related to the “breaking” of the OSE, and to the staff due to the memorial period, and to the extent to which the safety systems had been utilized, for safer trains. All this has been included in the conclusion of the inquiry committee and it is suggested what should be done.

-There was a complete assumption of political responsibility, both at the level of individuals and at the level of the government.

– There is talk of article 86 of the Constitution and in fact the former minister of SYRIZA Christos Spirtzis declares that he waives his immunity. But Mr. Spirtzis, on the one hand, knows that any crimes he has committed are time-barred and, on the other hand, he is not a member of parliament to waive parliamentary immunity. In general, Mr. Spirtzis “does not give up anything”.

-In the 2019 review, ND, PASOK and SYRIZA agreed that the amortization period should expire. None of the three parties raised the issue of starting the process for ministerial responsibility without the prior participation of the Parliament.

-Those who commemorate the resolution with 1,300,000 signatures, do not tell those who have signed it that when SYRIZA and PASOK had the opportunity to raise the issue with article 86 of the Constitution in the review, they did not take advantage of this opportunity. Therefore, Article 86 of the Constitution, as it stands today, exists with the consent of at least the three parties.

-Justice is the one who decides whether an offense falls under Article 86 of the Constitution. If the judiciary determines that an offense does not fall under Article 86, then it does not forward the file to the Parliament and proceeds with its investigation. When the judiciary determines that an offense falls under Article 86, it then forwards the file to Parliament.

-Regarding the European Prosecutor and the reports that her investigation was obstructed, “nothing was obstructed. Prosecutions were brought by the European public prosecutor and when prosecutions are brought, her work also stops. Then there is an interrogation. The European Public Prosecutor prosecuted, sent the file to the Parliament. Therefore, it must stay within the framework defined by the Regulation for its competences, which are only for EU financial matters”.

-Regarding the objections to the national railway safety rules, “there was the General Traffic Regulation. There was the 2016 Directive, which refers to national safety regulations. By 2018, the revision of these rules should have been done, but it was never done, due to SYRIZA. Mr. Karamanlis with law 4632/2019 included these rules and at the same time there is also the General Traffic Regulation. The handbook of general traffic regulations, unfortunately on the evening of February 28, 2023, was not followed. If this Regulation had been observed, the tragic accident in Tempi would not have occurred.”

-For contract 717, “after SYRIZA chose to break the consortium into two parts and after it was established that machines were being used that did not “clip” together, the need to have the first supplementary contract arose in 2016. From 2016 to 2019, the SYRIZA government did nothing, accepting that the extensions are given, not due to the sole fault of the consortium, but also due to the fault of the Greek public. Mr. Karamanlis completed the procedure of the first supplementary contract. He granted an extension to the contract instead of declaring the joint venture liquidated, because if he declared the joint venture liquidated the contract 717 would not be completed.” The 717 contract was completed in September 2023. Mr. Karamanlis is not the one who delayed the contract but the one who tried to implement it.

– The General Traffic Regulation existed and was functioning and the law on national rules was also passed.

– As for the “bazoma” in the area of ​​the tragedy, it does not stand up to the logic that the co-authors who rushed to the field, in the early hours of February 28th to March 1st, saw the destruction, and planned how to hide evidence. “The interventions in the field were absolutely necessary.”

– Because there is talk of a cover-up, “today, the investigation is ongoing, criminal charges have been brought, there has been an intervention in the Criminal Code so that the trial can take place more quickly, when the investigation is completed” and this while today the case for the Eye is still being tried.