The best political distraction was offered to the majority by Zoe Konstantopoulou with what she surreally decided to do at the last meeting of the Commission of Inquiry on the crime of Tempe, especially at a time when the ND was proceeding in public view in a new attempt at collective deception, with Lazaros Tsavdaridis developing the “argument” of covering up the responsibilities of politicians, placing all the responsibility on the station master and the dead train driver.
Causing delays and interruptions, the president of Plevsis Eleftherias – who has been excluded from the Committee due to disability as an advocate for victims’ families – entered Chamber 223 of Parliament and refused to leave.
He did not allow anyone to take the floor, monotonously repeating that he has submitted an exemption request to the Presidium of the Examining Authority (D. Markopoulos, K. Palioura – Papakosta and T. Bartzokis).
He unleashed characterizations anyway, with the president of the Commission objecting that “Monday’s theater was performed in the 80s”, while Mr. Tsavdaridis spoke of comedy.
“Go and bury the murder of 57 people” shouted Ms. Konstantopoulou, calling ND MP Vassilis Ypsilanti a peltast (a type of ancient warrior). “How do you allow that?” shouted the rapporteur of Niki, N. Vrettos, in the presidium, making the process even more ridiculous.
The same in the Plenary
After the second adjournment of the meeting, D. Markopoulos announced that the meeting will continue in the Plenary. The purpose of the majority was for the president of the ninth party to speak from the microphone, since – based on the Rules of the House – she could not be forced to leave the meeting, however, she did not have the right to speak or vote.
When the procedure was transferred to the Plenary, Mrs. Konstantopoulou continued to turn the meeting into a political troupe. “I have asked you to speak, Mr. President,” she shouted, while while L. Tsavdaridis was quoting the allegations with which the ND is “oiling” Kostas Karamanlis, Christos Karamanlis and Giorgos Karagiannis, the president of Plefsis Eleftherias was shouting: “What a shame” or “congratulate Karamanlis”.
“Matter of honor”
As for the substance (as much as Mrs. Konstantopoulou allowed anyway), the ND rapporteur unabashedly claimed that it is a “matter of honor” to whitewash the tragedy, accusing the opposition of trying to exploit the railway accident as a party.
Mr. Tsavdaridis, repeating the conclusions of the majority opinion, attributed all the responsibilities to the station master and the train drivers, while he described the remote control systems as not capable of eliminating the risk because they are operated by humans.
“Sad what we heard from ND”
With Mrs. Konstantopoulou continuing the “interferences”, the rapporteur of the official opposition, V. Kokkalis, characterized as regrettable what was heard from L. Tsavdaridis. “Mr. Kokkalis, you are complicit in what is happening if you don’t say something” she shouted over the microphone, with Mr. Kokkalis continuing unmoved without paying her the slightest attention.
“What took place in the Inquest was very sad because there really was and is clearly an attempt to cover up the truth,” he said and added: “How else can someone describe it when you frantically excluded the most important witnesses? What was the reason you did not insist that the entire case file come?’
Mr. Kokkalis, after proceeding to a brief review of the most important testimonies and evidence that the Commission was able to collect despite the contrary efforts of the ND, repeated what SYRIZA finds in its conclusion, specifically the strong indications of the commission of the following offenses by Costas Karamanlis : manslaughter with probable cause in series and bodily harm in series, dereliction of duty and disturbing the safety of transportation.
For Chr. Trantopoulos, who is related to the tampering of the scene of the tragedy, SYRIZA finds evidence of breach of duty and alteration of the scene of the accident, while requesting the investigation of Michalis Chrysochoidis, Christos Spirtzis and K. Karamanlis for the non-implementation of the 717 agreement, a fact that drags and the former Deputy Minister of Transport, Mr. Karagianni.
“Removal of immunity for Karamanlis”
It is considered very important that the official opposition asks the Commission to vote on a unanimous interpretative statement, which will state that the “failure to perform a due legal action” by a minister is not included in the exercise of ministerial duties. That is, that for this type of offense there is no need to activate the provisions of article 86 of the Constitution.
Therefore, if SYRIZA’s proposal comes to fruition – which is unlikely – it will not be necessary to set up a Pre-Investigation Committee, but simply remove immunity to bring the former Minister of Transport to Justice, which is also requested by the relatives of the victims through the resolution of Maria Karystanou.
On this, following a question from documentonews.gr during the statements he gave from the floor of the Parliament, the SYRIZA rapporteur, Vassilis Kokkalis, replied that K. Karamanlis can be brought to justice with a simple waiver of immunity, stressing that the of truth society itself will dissolve it.
“It will be recorded as an organized cover-up of the crime”
“The decision and the order to carry out the cover-up was given by the Prime Minister and the Maximos Palace, who consciously chose to exclude an in-depth investigation and protect political figures connected to him. His political responsibility is twofold. It concerns the famous staff state which, during its four-year first term, did not ensure the existence of an integrated signaling system – remote control, due to non-completion of contract 717/2014, a fact which is directly causally related to the Tempe tragedy. But it also concerns the subsequent methodology of the arrest: the order for the entrapment and the order for the entrapment and the orchestration of the cover-up of those responsible during the work of the Inquiry” says in her statement the Member of Parliament for the Northern Sector and Head of the Justice Department of PASOK Milena Apostolaki during the discussion of the parties’ findings.
The PASOK member of parliament listed the decisions of the governing majority aimed at covering up the causes and those responsible:
1) the exclusion of critical witnesses
2), the protection offered to former Minister K.Karamanlis by rejecting the proposal of the opposition to forward his testimony to the competent Prosecutor’s Office with the question of perjury
3) the exclusion of evidence and witnesses surrounding the crime scene case, in order to protect Deputy Minister X. Triandopoulos or that government official who, following instructions from above, gave the order to cordon off the site
4) the Commission’s refusal to ask the Larisa Appeals Council for the entire case file,
5) the very sudden end of the Committee’s work on 2/20.
As Milena Apostolaki pointed out, “the further criminal investigation of the case is imperative as despite the protracted mode of operation of the Commission of Inquiry it was possible to draw clear conclusions that indicate the existence of nuanced indications of guilt for the commission of the criminal offense of article 291 of the Criminal Code, committed by omission and with possible fraud, (disturbance of safety of railways, ships, aircraft) as it was introduced by Law 4619/2019, but also in its previous form, as well as the criminal offense of breach of duty (259 PK) specifically for the two competent Ministers of Transport and Infrastructure of the SYRIZA and New Democracy governments, who are responsible for the non-completion of the works of the disputed contract 717/2014, which is directly causally related to the tragic accident in Tempe. As was clearly heard in this room from the responsible lips of experts, if the signaling – remote control system had been delivered within the exclusive deadline, which the contract had foreseen, and in any case it was working on 28/2/2023, the accident would certainly not have happened “.
“We know from your operation to date that you will not consent. We have no illusions. You will not allow the establishment of a preliminary examination committee by recommending the protection of Mr. Karamanlis” added M. Apostolaki.
“Leaving this room, my colleagues and I wish to be able to look into the eyes of the relatives of these 57 people. We wish to tell them “you are not alone, we are close to you, we will leave nothing in the dark, nothing and no one will go unpunished”. I am not sure that it is a goal for everyone in this room and that we all feel this need and to serve it with our actions”, emphasized the PASOK MP.
“One and a half million signatures require all of us to finally do something, they require a political system that is responsible and brave. But even if we forget the signatures, even if we forget the concept of our political responsibility, with our conscience, what will we do? What has happened in Tempi cannot end the way the Mitsotakis government is trying to do in this room today. We have an obligation to continue. Wherever and however we can. To the end! And as far as we in PASOK are concerned, we will do it with all the strength of our soul.“, emphasized Milena Apostolaki.
Read about it: Vassilis Kokkalis: Karamanlis can be brought to justice with a simple waiver of immunity
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