Tempe trial over video: Prosecutor proposes participation statements only for document withholding
The prosecutor proposed accepting participation statements from victims' relatives exclusively for the offence of document withholding. Eleni Vasara asked: "If they exclude us, who will you be trying?"
Tempe: Prosecutor restricts participation statements — relatives react sharply in court
Today's hearing in the trial over the management of video footage from the commercial train involved in the Tempe railway disaster began at the stage of legitimisations. According to Dikastiko.gr, the prosecutor proposed accepting participation statements from victims' relatives only for the offence of document withholding, while rejecting the statement of Hellenic Solutions party leader Kyriakos Velopoulos for all offences.
During the proceedings, defence counsel for the accused raised objections concerning the legitimisation of citizens in the trial. Specifically, they argued that for the offence of disobedience, private individuals do not have the right to file a participation statement, whilst for document withholding they noted that moral harm remains unproven, citing relevant case law of the Court of Cassation.
The issue of moral damage suffered by relatives from the concealment of evidence material became the focus of the dispute. That material concerns, according to the indictment, the cargo of the commercial train. Defence counsel emphasised that the actions of the accused, as described in the indictment, "were undertaken in order to hinder the investigative procedure — specifically the collection of necessary evidence for establishing the truth, particularly regarding the type of cargo carried by the commercial train". They added that those representing the prosecution did not clarify what exactly that cargo was.
The prosecutor proposed rejecting the objections of defence counsel and accepting the participation statements for the offence of document withholding. At the same time, he rejected the request for appointment of a substitute judge and prosecutor, citing the Code of Courts Organisation, which provides for substitution only for multi-member compositions.
The accused
In the dock are three individuals: the OSE president on the night of the disaster, the OSE chief executive officer who succeeded him until summer 2025, and the then legal representative of Interstar Security — the company that undertook the guarding and video surveillance of the OSE railway network from 2017.
The offences with which they are charged differ by accused. The Interstar official faces charges of continued document withholding and disobedience. The former OSE chief executive officer (2023–2025) is charged with moral complicity in single and continued document withholding, as well as moral complicity in disobedience. The former OSE president (2020–2023) faces a charge of moral complicity in document withholding.
"If they exclude us, who will you be trying?"
The hearing was accompanied by sharp dispute between the two sides. Defence counsel, arguing for the exclusion of relatives from supporting the prosecution, stressed that the only person who would have the right to claim harm is the investigator — and not the relatives of the victims.
This position provoked a sharp reaction among the relatives present. Eleni Vasara, who lost her daughter Agapi in the disaster, protested publicly with the question: "If they exclude us, who will you be trying?"
Source: Dikastiko.gr