A top Supreme Court prosecutor on Monday clarified that no official and clearcut request has been submitted to exhume the bodies of Tempi rail crash victims, a statement that came after an extra-judicial petition was delivered to the judiciary by two of the most high-profile relatives of the 57 victims, Maria Karystianou, who heads up an association representing relatives, and hunger-striker Panos Ruci.
The case of Ruci, who lost his son Denni in the late February 2023 two-train collision, has generated increased public attention and local media over recent days, as he has camped out in front of Parliament on a declared hunger strike to demand that judicial authorities allow an exhumation. Crowds of supporters have frequently gathered at the site to show their support for his demand.
Nevertheless, on Monday, high court prosecutor Konstantinos Tzavellas emphasized that if an official request is made then it will “be examined and answered immediately”. He also said Greece’s Supreme Court does not have jurisdiction over requests for exhumations, something that falls squarely within the scope of the relevant president of the appeals courts. The latter statement was also included in a same-day and very high-profile announcement issued by the Supreme Court, namely, that another level of the judiciary is responsible for approving such requests.
Moreover, in a statement indirectly touching on recent press reports citing attempts to delay the opening of a much-anticipated trial on the rail disaster, Tzavellas said there is now a danger that misdemeanor charges filed against several defendants will be dropped due to an expiration of the statute of limitations.
Ruci’s hunger strike and presence in Syntagma Square, in front of Parliament and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, has received widespread media coverage and heightened exposure on Greek-language social media. The development has also rekindled sharp opposition criticism of the Mitsotakis government’s handling of the Tempi disaster and even resuscitated claims of a political and judicial “cover-up” because the freight train was ostensibly transporting a flammable and undeclared substance that ignited and caused the death of people on the passenger train. The latter scenario had mostly fizzled out after video footage emerged – two years after the accident – showing nary an illegal cargo and after a recent fire brigade report ruled out this prospect.
Several relatives of victims have also stressed that they want to ensure that the remains buried are actually of their loved ones, on the one hand, and that remains of victims have not inadvertently been interred together, on the other hand.
Hunger striker Panos Ruci, middle.
In his statement, Tzavellas said he received an extra-judicial petition by parents of the victims, which he has conveyed to the appeals court prosecutor’s office and the president of the appeals court of the central Greece city of Larissa, which oversees the entire Tempi judicial investigation and where the trial will mostly likely be held.
“A definite request for exhumation to identify the bodies of victims is not contained in the previously mentioned extrajudicial petition. If such a request is submitted or if it is considered that it’s contained (in the substance of the petition), it will be examined and answered immediately,” he said.
Memo submitted by family members of the victims
In a related development, a lengthy memorandum was submitted by 80 relatives of victims to the Supreme Court prosecutor’s office, requesting that a supplementary investigation be ordered into the rail disaster.
In their memorandum, 80 relatives of victims maintained that crucial documents have not been examined by prosecutors and investigators, including material by the State General Chemistry Laboratory regarding the existence of flammable materials on the trains.
