- Investigator Christina Salappas summoned 23 defendants for questioning on February 28.
- Victims’ lawyers say: “Accountability will reach even the highest officials”.
- Testimony of a survivor: “Every night I think about the moment of the collision”.
By Vangelis Triantis
The circle of persons to be summoned by the Special Investigating Judge Sotiris Bakaimis in connection with the Tempi tragedy is widening, one year after the fatal accident that claimed the lives of 57 people.
In the coming period, the Italian managing director of Hellenic Train and another high-ranking executive of the company are expected to be summoned to defend themselves, as charges of misdemeanors were recently filed against them.
At the same time, the investigating judge is directing his inquiries to the management of the Ministry of Transportation in the period 2017 – 2023, as revealed in a document sent to the Ministry of Infrastructure and Transportation in mid-February, according to Data Journalists.
Relevant investigations by Data Journalists:
- Tragedy in Tempi: Ghost Contracts and the Contractors War
- Kostas Ach. Karamanlis: Transport Minister distributes 46.5 million euros to advisers
In addition, the President of the Railway Regulatory Authority (RRA), Ioanna Tsiaparikos, is expected to be summoned for questioning in March, while it is not ruled out that other officials of the independent authority may also be summoned for questioning. Let’s take a closer look at the state of the judicial investigations one year after the tragedy.
Department of transportation leaders under the microscope
The indictment against the Italian CEO and another senior executive of Hellenic Train was brought last week by the investigating judge Bakaimis. The high-ranking executives of Hellenic Train are being prosecuted on a misdemeanor level for the offenses of “recurrent manslaughter through culpable negligence”, ” recurrent grievous bodily harm through culpable negligence” and ” recurrent simple bodily harm through culpable negligence”. In the next period, the two high-ranking executives are expected to cross the threshold of the investigating judge to plead guilty to the offenses prosecuted.
According to information from Data Journalists, the judicial investigation into the Tempi tragedy is in its final stages. It is noteworthy that so far 31 executives of the Hellenic Railways Organization (HRO) and ERGOSE have been charged with the crime of disturbing safety and traffic, as well as the crimes of manslaughter, causing serious and minor bodily harm through negligence.
Meanwhile, Investigator Bakaimis is focusing his investigation on officials and executives of the Ministry of Transportation. Specifically, on February 9, the investigator sent a formal request to the head of the personnel department of the Ministry of Transportation asking for information about certain officials of the Ministry of Transportation.
These are executives who served in two directorates of the Ministry of Transportation from October 12, 2017, to February 28, 2023. Specifically, the investigating judge’s request concerns the heads of the Directorate of Transportation Infrastructure and its subordinate Directorate of Fixed Track Maintenance and Safety, as well as the Directorate of Transportation and its subordinate Directorate of Railway Transportation.
In the same document, Investigator Bakaimis requests the Ministry of Transportation to provide him with information on employees who may have previously performed duties or responsibilities of supervision and control of HRO and ERGOSE. In case of potential criminal liability of these executives, the indictment will be expanded.
Read the document in detail:
According to information, another person who is expected to be summoned for questioning by Investigator Bakaimis is the President of RRA, Ioanna Tsiaparikos, while it is not excluded that other leaders of RRA may also be summoned for questioning.
According to Data Journalists, by the end of March, the circle of people who will cross the threshold of the investigator’s office will be completed. In addition, it is estimated that the trial of the accused for the fatal accident in Tempi will begin in June.
Appearing before the European Investigator
February 28 the 23 defendants against whom criminal charges were brought following an investigation by the European Public Prosecutor’s Office for failure to execute Contract 717/2014 (for the restoration of the signaling and control system of the Athens-Thessaloniki-Promachonas railway section).
There are 23 people, 18 of them public officials:
- 14 officials of ERGOSE, who are being prosecuted for subsidy fraud. Two of them are also accused of “false certification with the aim of giving an unfair advantage to another”.
- 4 officials of the Managing Authority of the Operational Program “Transport Infrastructure, Environment and Sustainable Development” for misappropriation of funds.
- 5 legal representatives and employees of the Contractor Consortium for complicity in subsidy fraud and complicity in false certification with the purpose of obtaining an unfair advantage for another.
Mitronatsios and Bekas Lawyers: Accountability will reach even the highest officials
In a joint statement to Data Journalists, the lawyers for the victims of the tragedy and the injured, along with Georgios Bekas, emphasize, among other things, that “accountability will reach even the highest officials.
One year later, we express our confidence in the work of the Greek judicial system. We will support the court in reaching a just decision and vindicating the 57 unjustly lost souls, their families, and all those who survived this horrific accident but live daily with the pain of the trauma it caused. Accountability will reach even the highest officials,” they emphasize.
Survivor’s Testimony: Night after night, the collision replays vividly in my memory
The memories of the night of the tragedy still haunt the relatives of the victims and the survivors. Eleni Vavilopoulos is a 23-year-old postgraduate psychology student. She was on the fateful train on the night of the tragedy. Eleni, 23, speaks to Data Journalists one year after the tragedy. Her words are a punch in the gut to those who tried to shift the blame to the human factor to cover their own. Specifically, the 23-year-old postgraduate student describes:
“The memory of the accident remains vivid, one year later. Every night I replay the moment of impact in my mind. In those first seconds, the train seemed to run uncontrollably as the windows shattered one by one. People were screaming and I was crying. Darkness and fire surrounded me. I thought we would burn alive. I couldn’t breathe because of the smoke in the carriage which seeped through the broken windows. I have never felt greater fear and terror for my life. I was sure I was going to die inside.
