A deputy prosecutor at Greece’s Supreme Court has recommended that former Deputy Minister Christos Triantopoulos stand trial before a Special Court over the alleged unlawful alteration of the site of the 2023 Tempi rail disaster, according to judicial sources.

The Prosecutor suggested the ruling party’s former minister face a misdemeanor charge of dereliction of duty, a charge also recommended for former Thessaly regional governor Kostas Agorastos, another New Democracy figure, and four other individuals, most of whom are former officials of the Fire Service, sources said.

Under the proposal, Triantopoulos and Agorastos would be prosecuted for alleged breach of duty in connection with actions taken at the scene of Greece’s deadliest rail accident.

If the Judicial Council endorses the prosecutor’s recommendation, a decision expected later this autumn, it would pave the way for the first Special Court proceedings linked to the Tempi tragedy.

The Judicial Council will now examine the prosecutor’s proposal and decide whether sufficient grounds exist to refer Triantopoulos to a Special Court over the alleged handling of the crash site.

The recommendation comes as a separate judicial investigation continues into former Transport Minister Kostas A. Karamanlis, who has also been referred under the ministerial liability law on allegations of breach of duty. Prosecutors are also investigating the role of seven former ministry general secretaries who served between 2016 and 2023, the year the Tempi rail disaster occurred.