“The motion of no confidence has been submitted to Mr. Mitsotakis, he must apologize tomorrow”, “the question of the motion of no confidence is Mr. Mitsotakis himself. All the plans to violate the rule of law concern Mr. Mitsotakis, Maximou and the ND headquarters,” emphasized the president of the SYRIZA-PS parliamentary group, Socrates Famous, intervening in the plenary session of the Parliament.

Mr. Famellos addressed specific questions ahead of Kostas Ah’s speech. Karamanlis, asking to give specific answers, such questions as he raised to the Minister of Citizen Protection, Michalis Chrysochoidis, while at the same time he launched a severe attack on the Minister of Justice, George Floridis, on the occasion of his reports today.

The president of the KO of SYRIZA-PS, said that with the motion of no confidence, Mr. Mitsotakis will necessarily come to the Parliament, “he will come to apologize to the Parliament which he underestimated and it was not when we were discussing the conclusion of the investigation, because he underestimated the Parliament, society, democracy and the memory of the victims – and this cannot stay like this: he must come here and apologise.”

He emphasized that “the deputies of the ND they are called to defend that the government is not responsible for the crime of Tempe and they are exposed daily to society, because the evidence that emerges daily refutes them”. He gave as an example the “current vagueness and evasions” of Mr. Triandopoulos: “What he said today contradicts a television interview he gave a week after the accident, where he admitted that he himself was present and in charge of the work of the gangs from 2-5 March and today he came to say that he had no responsibility”. “The parliamentarians of the N.D. tomorrow they will face their conscience, they will be asked to choose between the truth and the party interest, the interest of Mr. Mitsotakis’ chair and the rest of the fireplaces he covers”, he commented.

In view of Mr. Karamanlis’ speech, Mr. Famellos said that “we have to ask specific questions to Mr. Karamanlis, which are also asked to the Deputy Minister Mr. Karagiannis and we want answers”.

In particular, he asked Mr. Karamanlis “why did you ignore all the institutional warnings that were made to you about the safety of the railway?”. He pointed out that it refers to the resignation of Mr. Spiliopoulos, president and managing director of OSE, who resigned on May 28, 2020 and in a confidential letter to Mr. Mitsotakis raised the problems. Secondly, he asked him “why did you ignore the letter of resignation of Mr. Tsalidis, director of TRAINOSE on September 6, 2021, which describes the serious problems in the traffic of the Greek railway and points to the risk of an incident of maximum severity?”. Thirdly, why did he “ignore” the resignation letter dated April 27, 2022 of Mr. Katsioulis who was the president of the remote control committee, “who in his letter highlights the deficits, the mismanagement, the delay and the non-implementation of a physical object”. Fourth, why did he “ignore” the out-court of the Panhellenic Union of Engine Drivers on October 21, 2022 signed by Mr. Genidounias, “about the problems of the railway network, the poor condition of the line, the non-operation of telematic remote control photo signals, and the safety risks” . The fifth question concerned “the National Transparency Authority’s document delivered to the minister’s office signed on October 4, 2021, in which the authority requested immediate disciplinary action against those involved in the mismanagement and lack of oversight of contract 717.”

He also asked the former minister to answer, because while the remote control station of Larissa had burned down in ’19, he did not restore it. “Tell us why, since the remote control center and the secondary control center of Karolos have not existed since 2019, why did he not take the measures that Mr. Gerapetritis set a week after taking office (as an official after resigning Karamanli), such as reducing the density of routes and their speed and double stationmasters on shift. Why didn’t this happen 4 years ago?”

Mr. Famellos spoke of “vulgar delirium by Mr. Floridis”, who “with unacceptable phraseology for the entire opposition, attacked saying that ‘those politicians who use this cloudy thing for their boots are rubbish'”. “I suggest that he meet with the families of the victims who came and found us and described to us how they searched for weeks after the tragic accident to find personal belongings of their children or relatives, where they were taken with the rubble, the remains of the accident,” he said. He commented that “it’s not that Mr. Floridis has no conscience, nor does he have ethics. He went as far as, as a modern political janissary, to accuse us of left-wing fascism. His downfall and his populism are well known. He has become more far-right than Mr. Voridis.” He stated that those who have shaken the people’s and Europe’s trust in Greek democracy are this government, Mr. Mitsotakis and Mr. Floridis as Minister of Justice, “because he is also responsible, when as Minister of Justice he is criticized by the European Parliament for degrading the rule of law”.

Mr. Famellos noted that “the crime of Tempe will come back many times in the Plenary because it is deeply imprinted on the social consciousness and because no answers have been given” and “the truth cannot be revealed when we have 57 victims”.

“Neither have answers been given about the botching of the space, nor about the editing of the falsified audio conversations of the station master,” he said. “The ND representatives tell us that the Police competently took the audio documents 3-4 days later and handed over the audio documents to the investigative authorities. We don’t blame them. What has been accused and I want Mr. Chrysochoidis to answer is who falsified and who gave the falsified audio documents to mme”. He argued that the aim was clear: “the manipulation of public opinion”. “Who illegally tampered with audio files and with electronic traces to be disclosed, released audio documents to misinform and manipulate public opinion? And who did this falsification serve besides Mr. Mitsotakis himself?”, he asked. He added that “Mr. Mitsotakis from the next morning was talking about human error”.

“The question that Mr. Mitsotakis must apologize for tomorrow – and not only Mr. Karamanlis today – is what interests and what commitments are hidden behind the double crime of cover-up.” “The cover-up plan that was set up within a few hours of the tragic accident is a plan by Maximos and Piraeus, the government and ND. Why from the N.D. wiretapping, the use of illegal software up to and including its export, threats to independent authorities, threats to top judges, the illegal management of personal data have been rife in its headquarters and Maximos,” he said.

Finally, Mr. Famellos said that these “concern Mr. Mitsotakis himself, because after the tragic accident, what has happened are Mr. Mitsotakis’ choices […] A motion of no confidence has been submitted to Mr. Mitsotakis, he must apologize tomorrow.”

At the same time, however, “the Justice must give us answers very soon for all this. Because in addition to the control of the crime as such, there must be a control by the justice system for the manipulation and for the loss of convictions and for the falsification of audio documents and for the dissemination of false news and the disorientation of society”, emphasized Mr. Famellos.