A preliminary investigative committee on the Tempi train collision decided to summon former minister Christos Triantopoulos to testify on March 28 (Friday), changing the date from an earlier announcement saying it will take place on Monday (March 24), following a meeting in Parliament on Thursday.
The change in date was decided for procedural reasons. The decision for the new date was uploaded on the Diavgia site, with the post also including the agenda items: a. Triantopoulos’ explanations without taking an oath and b. Debate and decision on means of proof and other procedural issues.
The decision to summon Triantopoulos was made by majority vote of 14 deputies of the ruling New Democracy (ND) government, which turned down a proposal by Plefsi Eleftherias and Spartiates, while representatives of six parties walked out without voting on Thursday, accusing the government of trying to shut down the committee’s work.
PASOK-KINAL’s Deputy Milena Apostolaki accused the ND government of being on “seconded service, implementing the decision of [Prime Minister Kyriakos] Mitsotakis to issue Triantopoulos’ referral to justice through a violation of the constitution, and in the most convenient way for the government.”
SYRIZA Deputy Vassilis Kokkalis said the proceedings of the first day of the committee’s meeting were “the absolute debasement of the constitution and of law” by the ND deputies, who “refused the witnesses we proposed, starting with the prime minister, they refused to provide the full case file from the appeals prosecutor’s office in Larissa on the Tempi case, and they are selectively summoning Mr. Triantopoulos for explanations, despite the law.”
KKE Deputy Nikos Karathanassopoulos said “the speeded-up conclusion of the committee’s works” by calling Triantopoulos to testify on Monday, “is part of the overall framework of covering up the causes of the crime at Tempi.” He said the party walked out in order to avoid providing legitimacy to these proceedings, which chose not to examine witnesses.
Nea Aristera Deputy Dimitris Tzanakopoulos said “unfortunately, our fears were fully confirmed. We experienced an unimaginable political fiasco, a parody of a meeting, a meeting which aims exclusively to conclude the process of preliminary investigation before it even begins, for political reasons.” He added that “ND’s aim, through the premature summon of Mr. Triantopoulos before any other witness is summoned” is a violation of constitutional rules and “a black day for the Greek Parliament and democracy.”
Also read: Tempi: The 27 MPs in the preliminary inquiry committee
Source: ANA-MPA
