Not only has no attempt been made to cover up the Tempe accident by the government, but on the contrary an unprecedented attempt has been made to reveal all aspects of the case, Foreign Minister Giorgos Gerapetritis emphasized to SKAI.

He noted that in addition to the judicial investigation, the government also requested an administrative investigation with a committee of experts that quickly issued a conclusion that the opposition is actually citing.

Mr. Gerapetritis, who after the resignation of Karamanlis had assumed the portfolio for infrastructure and transport issues, also stated that on his own initiative the European Railway Organization was also mobilized, which carried out an investigation into the accident and its conclusion is awaited.

Mr. Gerapetritis clarified that the Parliament has not received a file about the accident, only the file concerning the so-called contract 717 for financial issues.

He noted that when the case file goes to the Parliament, it will be evaluated whether there is a criminal issue or not.

Responding to a question on whether he would advise Mr. Karamanlis to voluntarily appear in court, the minister clarified that if there is evidence in the case file that shows that the minister did not fulfill his duty then he should be brought to justice. If there is no evidence, he should not be charged, just as it is with every citizen.

Mr. Gerapetritis made it clear that the responsibilities will be assigned wherever they are, when the file reaches the Parliament it will be evaluated in the appropriate way, but it will not be evaluated to find the guilty. Culprits must be determined based on evidence and not based on senses. Every citizen must be judged by the facts and not by the surrounding atmosphere.

Referring to the European prosecutor, he noted that she was mobilized to investigate what is her responsibility regarding the investigation into the embezzlement of community funds alone.

As the minister pointed out, the rest will be investigated by the Greek judiciary. He explained that the European public prosecutor, in excess of her role, asked in an insulting way for the Greek state to change the constitution so that a political figure could be brought to justice.

The minister emphasized that Greece, like the vast majority of Western countries, has a specific procedure which first goes through parliament.

Referring to the motion of no confidence, he emphasized that an operation is being done to prove that the accident was not due to human error but to systemic weaknesses, but all systems require a human hand to work, he said.

If there were more safeguards things would be much better, he noted.

The minister, however, said that no one can answer with 100% certainty whether the accident would have been prevented if the 717 contract concerning the signaling and remote control of the railway network had been completed.