Μake us preferred on Google The Tempi rail disaster is heading to Greece’s Special Court for the first time, with New Democracy lawmaker Christos Triantopoulos among five officials ordered to stand trial on misdemeanor charges of breach of duty over the handling of the crash site. The proceedings will also mark the first Special Court case involving a member of the current New Democracy government.
Triantopoulos, who has denied any wrongdoing, said in a social media post that he disagreed with the judicial council’s decision and would contest its findings before the court. The New Democracy lawmaker and former minister maintains that a full examination of the case would establish his innocence. He also announced that he would not run as a candidate in the upcoming national election, saying the demands of preparing for the court proceedings would make it difficult to campaign at the same time. Triantopoulos wrote in his post that he had already informed Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, of his decision not to participate in the party’s ticket in Magnesia. He said he would remain in Parliament until the end of the current term.
Government sources said the administration fully respects the judicial process and emphasized that the decision to send Triantopoulos to trial does not amount to a finding of guilt. They also pointed to the presumption of innocence and noted that Triantopoulos had himself asked for the case to be examined by the courts, adding that the courts would ultimately decide.
Also facing trial are Kostas Agorastos, the former governor of Thessaly; Vassilis Papageorgiou, a former secretary general for civil protection; Agapios Charakopoulos, who headed the police operation at the crash site; and Evangelos Falaras, who was in charge of the Fire Service there.
The Special Court hears cases involving the criminal responsibility of government ministers. It is made up of senior judges from Greece’s Supreme Court and Council of State, selected by Parliament through a lottery, along with the prosecutor for the case. The trial is expected to be scheduled for early next year.
The judicial council adopted the recommendation of Supreme Court Deputy Prosecutor Dimitrios Mitroulias, who had sought the referral of Triantopoulos and the four other officials. The full text of the ruling, including the judges’ reasoning, was expected to be released later Tuesday.
Triantopoulos was questioned in December 2025 by Fotini Milioni, the investigating judge assigned to the case. He denied the accusation against him and said he had never ordered any alteration of the Tempi crash site.
A separate judicial investigation involving former Transport and Infrastructure Minister Kostas A. Karamanlis is still ongoing.
