The apologies of two senior officials from the Ministry of Transport regarding the Tempi incident led the investigating judge in Larissa to send the case file [1], [2], [3] first to the Supreme Court and then to Parliament to examine the possible criminal responsibility of former ministers Christos Spirtzis and Kostas Karamanlis.
The two officials, who still hold their positions, are accused, among other things, of disrupting transportation safety with fatal consequences, which could result in life imprisonment. Their denial of the charges was supported by documents that point to the two former ministers as responsible for the tragedy.
The potential criminal responsibility of Spirtzis and Karamanlis will now be investigated for insufficient oversight, as well as the responsibility of the agencies (RAS, OSE) in charge of railway safety for failing to implement network modernization projects and for understaffing.
The potential criminal responsibilities of the two ministers relate to the inadequate oversight of the bodies (RAS, OSE) responsible for railway safety.
The responsibilities of the two ministers relate to the period from 2016 to 2023. For H. Spirtzis, any potential offense has already been time-barred, as two parliamentary terms have passed, according to the Constitution. For K. Karamanlis, there is a “race against time” to prevent the same outcome in October.
The government has not made any announcements yet, as it is waiting to be briefed on the case file. However, it is likely to follow the “Triantopoulos approach,” referring K. Karamanlis to the Judicial Council.
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