Marinakis: 'We have our own responsibility for Tempi; the prime minister will reply in Parliament

Society feels "an accumulated indignation, anger" over a series of failings of the Greek State that were "combined in the tragic accident at Tempi," government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis commented on Tuesday on SKAI television, commenting on the massive weekend protest rallies to demand justice for the accident.

"Young people were lost. All of us - we have children, we have siblings, we have traveled [on trains] - I have personally as a student, to go to Thessaloniki, and then by bus to Komotini. We could have been on this train,” he said.

Marinakis also gave assurances that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis will give replies in Parliament and accused the opposition of trying to exploit the tragic train accident at Tempi and "build political careers on the backs of people who are in pain," because it "lacks a political narrative".

Asked to comment on the opposition's claims of a cover-up by the government and the accusations the prime minister, he replied: “We must say that all of this is completely logical. Both the rallies and the large majority of people who go to protest for justice. It’s not strange that people want justice. It’s logical and necessary. That’s one thing I want to say. The second thing is what you’re asking me. What is the main accusation of the opposition and the media that want to oppose the government? That Mitsotakis is orchestrating a cover-up. Let's say three things so that people understand what is happening in a very difficult issue - which I repeat, is not to say that this is something that can be justified, what happened that day is not justified, 57 people were lost so unfairly. The penalties provided under the law must be imposed by the justice system, as judged by the justice system and only the justice system. But let's address the alleged cover-up. What is the opposition imperatively asking for, in one way or another? To proceed more quickly. In other words, what? To quickly go to trial. "

Noting that the investigation was taking a long time, he added: "Someone who wants a cover up, as they accuse the prime minister, what would they do? They would pressure justice, as the previous government did...and would say 'Come on, wrap up the investigation quickly so we can go to trial, so we can even celebrate that the investigation is over in a year, let's rush to go to court; and so on. If this had happened ... which is unthinkable, what wouldn't we have? We would be missing two very important, from all indications, pieces of information, which are also the last, one in the case file and a second, from HARSIA (national transport accident investigation agency). One is the National Technical University of Athens (NTUA) report, which will give answers concerning the explosion and everything else. We are waiting".

Marinakis also explained that, because there were two reports from the families' technical advisors, the investigator has ordered a third report. "Would someone who wants to cover up - and now I'm referring to the government - staff HARSIA, the organisation for investigating railway and air accidents, with independent experts from abroad - and we expect an independent conclusion from them imminently, by the end of the month. In other words, the 'mastermind of the cover-up' allowed justice to do its job..."

The spokesperson also rejected that the government was trying to cover up the responsibility of specific political figures, stressing that "we have bear our own share of responsibility and we also accepted greater responsibility. And I say this again. What happened that night is not justified."

He asked whether, in the last two years, any politician's name had been officially forwarded by justice to Parliament for suspected criminal liability in the accident and whether Parliament, New Democracy or the government had covered anything up. "The answer is no. If this happens, will we cover up? Will we say no? Obviously not. We will tell Justice: Whatever is provided for under the law. In other words, if justice says that person A or B has potential criminal liability or his name is found in the case file, because Justice cannot proceed due to the Law on Ministerial Responsibility, then we will directly facilitate Justice. Thirdly: Who voted for provisions, firstly, for the referral through a prosecutor of anyone who the prosecutor judges should go to trial and not to delay the Judicial Council process for 5, 6, 7 months? Who voted, without the vote of SYRIZA, for all these telephone conversations to be heard and included in the case file?"

Pointing out that "the answers to such an event that has criminal dimensions are given by Justice", he also underlined that "to the world, to the citizens, first and foremost to the relatives of the victims, - because these people have lost children, ...we must bow our heads to these people with respect, I would say shame, for all the perennial dysfunctions in total, and not with arrogance and seeking to reap political benefits." He added that the State will do everying in its power to facilitate justice, adding that everyone wants the investigation to conclude quickly but also correctly, examining all the evidence.