To respond to “whether to investigate the issue of the cargo cargo, as the findings of experts that result in the existence of an unspecified flammable matter” at the Tempe railway crash, the European Prosecutor, Laura Kojvi, called the European Prosecutor, Its hearing to the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Internal Affairs (Libe) of the EP for the annual report of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.

“This cargo had not been officially declared, so there are signs of illegal cross -border cargo trafficking, for which the corresponding duties were not paid,” Mr Arvanitis added to his question, according to the announcement.

The European prosecutor replied that “he is facing the Tempe accident with the necessary attention and will investigate the information available to the movement of liquid,” the same statement said.

Underlining the “generalized sense of concealment that dominates Greece”, as noted, Mr Arvanitis called for clarification from Mrs Kovesi, and “to investigate the political responsibilities for Convention 717, the issue of the absolute jurisdiction of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office”.

“She asked her why, since she was able to bypass Article 86 of the Constitution, she did not ask Greece to lift the immunity of the ministers involved, so that the two ministers, Mr Spirtzis – who has called for the lifting of his immunity – and Karamanlis, to investigate the European prosecutor.” And even “given that parliamentary immunity refers to the defendants, he was asked why he did not invite the politicians involved to testify at least as mere witnesses to ensure the completeness of the investigation.”

According to the announcement, “Mrs Kovesi’s response was that the European Public Prosecutor’s Office was investigating the case of Convention 717 and the utilization of European funds before the accident and had charged charges of stakeholders” and “reiterated the inability of its service”. He stressed that “it has informed the European Commission on this issue, as Greek law is opposed to European and is blocking the work of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office”.

“If no one lifts immunity, we can do nothing for her,” he said, according to the announcement.

The placement of Kostas Arvanitis:

“The earliest findings of experts and the very recent finding of the competent National Air and Railway and Transport Security Organization issued two years after the Tempe accidents unanimously admit the existence of an indefinite flammable flammable.

This load was never declared in official documents, that is, we are practically talking about strong indications of illegal cross -border cargo trafficking with possible involvement of more countries, for which the corresponding duties were not paid.

So here we have a case that falls absolutely, in our opinion, in the responsibilities of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office.

I would like to know if you will deal with this issue.

Secondly, in Greece there is a concern for a lack of transparency following the decision of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office to refer the case of the infamous contract 717 to the national authorities.

Particular spikes are left for the issue of paying guarantees by the defendants, but also for the decision of the 11th Department of the European Public Prosecutor’s Office. So I would like to illuminate us for some aspects of the process:

First, the decision I have said explicitly states that your service is responsible for investigating the involvement of the Ministers of Transport at 717.

Why, then, are you not asking the Greek Parliament directly to remove immunity in accordance with the principle of the superiority of European law, as the relatives of the victims had requested but did you decide to refer it to the national authorities?

Secondly, I end, at a time when immunity does not refer to witnesses but to the defendants, Mr Prosecutor why you never invited the political figures, namely the ministers, that is, the minister of the left- from the left- to Mr Spirtz and the right of the right? In Greece, as you know there is one word that dominates: concealment. And we are waiting for help from you. Thanks”.

Laura Kovesi’s answer:

“As for Tempi in Greece, I wanted to inform you again that in December 2023, we were charged with 23 suspects, including 18 civil servants for crimes on the execution of contracts for the restoration of a remote control system and a signaling system. Our research started before the accident, so I have to be very clear, we are not investigating this accident itself, we are considering that EU resources have been spent.

In one case we have seen possible involvement of some Members, but according to the Greek Constitution, which we are obliged to respect, we had to refer to the Greek Parliament the part of the case involving possible criminal responsibility of members of the Greek government.

We have informed the European Commission on this issue because it is a violation of European legislation. Such laws influence the exercise of Eppo’s responsibilities.

To the question of why we did not request hearings. If no one lifts immunity we can do nothing. If the lifting of immunity is rejected in a case, we can do nothing. In what capacity can I ask someone to come as a witness or accused if his or her immunity has not been lifted. We can’t do it. Again, we could not seek to remove immunity because we do not have this responsibility. We received letters from the lawyers, we appreciated them and that was the answer. But I assure you that we are dealing with this case with the necessary seriousness. Of course we also had information about the movement of this liquid. We are investigating it and will consider what we have. “