“We are asking for justice for all, without asterisks, but coming from the justice system,” said Greek government spokesperson Pavlos Marinakis in a press conference on Monday, speaking about the Tempi tragedy.

His comment comes amidst crescendoing public umbrage regarding the Tempi disaster, and an avalanche of accusations that the government has not provided justice, has not taken responsibility, and has in fact engaged in a cover-up of Greece’s most deadly rail disaster. The government in turn has argued that blame can be determined only by the judiciary, that political responsibility has to wait. 

“We have separation of powers. Determining who may have made mistakes and who is at fault is the job of the judiciary,” stated Marianakis. “What I reiterate is that for any political person whom the judiciary justifiably decides that they have some responsibility, we will not stand in the way. What I can tell you is there is no cover-up. [The investigation] has been facilitated in every aspect by the government.”

In the past weeks, almost two years after the head-on collision of two trains and the loss of 57 lives, a series of revelations and accusations has brought the issue back to the top of headlines and political priorities. At the end of January an expert report confirmed previous estimates that the freight train was carrying flammable liquids, though this had been repeatedly denied by the train company and the Prime Minister. 

Phone calls of victims crying for help as they perished in the flames, after the collision, were made public and played across all Greek media. 

Last weekend tens of thousands of Greeks protested all around the country. Polls showed that 81.1% of respondents do not believe their government had done enough to investigate the disaster.

A few days later Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis gave a television interview trying to tamp down outrage, but instead his sudden admission that the train perhaps could have contained flammable substances led to even further fury.

Revelations two days later that police officers at the crash site were pressured to quickly “landfill” the area and allegations that this was done to prevent a proper investigation took the public fury from boiling to steaming.

On Friday, SYRIZA’s Socratis Famellos urged on the parliament floor that the progressive parties should ban together and submit a motion of no confidence in the government. “The evidence and Mr. Mitsotakis’ confession is clear, and society demands it,” he stated. “Mr Mitsotakis is the orchestrator of the cover-up in the Tempi disaster.” 

In today’s press conference the government spokesperson accused the opposition parties of showboating and “instrumentalizing pain and the need for justice.”

He waved off SYRIZA’s angling to file a motion of no-confidence, and reaffirmed that the governing New Democracy party is willing to host a pre-agenda debate. “We will not hide,” he stated. “We have answers to everything a government can answer – because we are not the justice system – full stop.”

There have been other types of investigations into the Tempi train crash, though they have been criticized for their inadequacy. A 2023 inquiry by the Tempi Train Collision Commission blamed infrastructure issues but never led to a criminal investigation. A March 2024 parliamentary committee investigation placed the blame on poor adherence to protocols, but these findings were also criticized as rushed and incomplete.

In December 2023, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office charged 23 individuals, including 18 government officials, but the Greek government refused to pursue charges.

Greece’s EU-mandated National Organization for the Investigation of Air and Rail Accidents and Transport Security was created only a month before the train collision, and did not have a rail accident expert on staff at the time of the incident. The investigation was carried out with emergency fill-in from the EU, and the agency is set to release its report on the crash this February 27, one day before the two-year anniversary.