I would not run in the elections if I had a political responsibility, said the Minister of Justice, Giorgos Floridis, referring to the case of the train accident in Tempi.

Speaking today to ANT1, Mr. Floridis said that the possible resignation of the former Minister of Transport, Kostas Karamanlis, from parliamentary immunity is not leading anywhere today, while he accused Christos Spirtzis of theatrics and deception of public opinion.

He also said that new evidence to be investigated in the context of the investigation is delaying the start of the trial.

The Minister of Justice also stated: “There is a demand from the relatives and the Greek society that there be light on the case.”

At the same time, he pointed out that “political forces are appearing that take advantage of the true pain of the relatives, to create a problem in Greece and the government”.

In the reports of relatives of victims that a large amount of soil with valuable evidence was removed, before the site of the tragedy was filled, the Minister of Justice said that a judicial investigation is being conducted for this point as well, however he pointed out that the best prosecutor in the country has been dealing from the first moment with the tragedy and at the same time challenged anyone to tell him if there is the slightest flaw in the way the investigative process is conducted in Larissa.

As Mr. Floridis said, “the investigator decided to expand his investigation so that there is no element left that his investigation does not answer. There were three points that needed to be investigated in order not to be left unanswered: whether the train was carrying flammable cargo, whether there are videos that might reveal something, and the discrepancy between the reports of the experts.”

Throwing his arrows at the opposition regarding the lifting of the immunity of the former Ministers of Transport, Mr. Floridis said: “It is theater and I know why it is done, but… In 2019 in the revision of the Constitution made at the second level by the ND government, it was deleted that provision of 1986 that said for a different period of time for the statute of limitations for offenses committed by ministers. Therein lies the confusion with the folly of the cover-up. No further regulation is needed. From the time when the short statute of limitations for the offense was removed for the ministers, today and for the case we are discussing, any criminal responsibilities of ministers are statute-barred 20 years later”.

He added that “at any time, at the 20-year mark, evidence emerges that may lead to criminal prosecution of the ministers, the Parliament, with any majority, can decide on the prosecution. Political figures will go to a Special Court composed of supreme judges.”

Putting against him Christos Spirtzis and of his letter to the Speaker of the Parliament, George Floridis said that “Mr. Spirtzis knowingly committed a fraud, because the provision invoked provides that in order to appeal to it there must first be a criminal prosecution against him said minister and she for some reason has stopped. Here, we don’t have such a case.”

Asked about Kostas Karamanlis’ absence from the Parliament and the debate on Tempi, the Minister of Justice said: “Mr. Karamanlis gave a lengthy testimony to the Commission of Inquiry and gave answers. You are talking to a non-MP, but one who had previously fallen out with his party and resigned. I would not stand for election if I had a political responsibility. The issue is how everyone perceives political responsibility and what they do.”

“We will always bow our heads to the mourning and pain of the relatives of the victims. They want to shed light and we all want to shed light on the case, but there are political forces that take advantage of this true political pain to cause problems for Greece and the Government. The process for Mati was delayed for five years and then for a year they were looking for a room to hold a trial. Were there ND MEPs whispering and blaming Greece for this?” said George Floridis.

In a strong tone, he said: “As Minister of Justice I invite anyone to come out and say at what point they question the interrogation as it is done by the Greek investigators. At what point is there a gap in the investigative process in Larissa, I challenge anyone to come out and say it. The luck of this judicial investigation, which has so far been flawless, is that there at the time of this terrible accident was the best prosecutor in the country.”

To the persistent questions that the prosecutor ordered that the accident site be sealed off to protect any evidence and findings, Mr. Floridis said that “this issue of what has been done in that area is also under judicial investigation”

Mr. Floridis spoke to harsh tones for the European Prosecutor and her statements about obstructing the investigation in Greece, stressing that “after we made it clear that in my opinion, the Justice during the interrogation does its job perfectly, let me tell you that the European Public Prosecutor has, since the establishment of this institution, one and only mission, based on European regulation: that it only investigates cases of financial crimes related only to European Union money. This has to do with Convention 717 only.”

He went on to say “Two mandated European prosecutors, who are Greek prosecutors, from the Greek prosecution branch who are seconded by decision of the Supreme Court to the office of the European Public Prosecutor and are based in Athens. They imposed fearsome bail on two of the examinees considered responsible for Convention 717 in order not to remand them. Did they do this while being prevented from investigating? Did anyone say it prevents them from investigating? What she said was denied two days later by the European Prosecutors under her service, who imposed the guarantees, meaning they are not hindered in their investigation.”