A Greek court has rejected, at this stage of the proceedings, a request to upgrade the charges in the ongoing trial over the deadly Tempi rail disaster, ruling that there is no basis to alter the indictment before the evidentiary phase of the trial begins.

The request had been submitted by several lawyers representing the families of the victims, who argued for more serious charges against the defendants.

Court defers decision on additional evidence

In the same ruling, the court reserved judgment on requests to summon additional witnesses and admit further documentary evidence, indicating that those issues will be decided at a later stage.

The decision aligns with the recommendation made by the prosecutor during a previous hearing on June 30.

Earlier in the session, defense lawyers argued that the requests to amend the indictment were procedurally premature and that the trial should proceed under the existing charges.

Defense argues against changing the indictment

One of the defense lawyers argued that there is a fundamental legal distinction between accepting the risk of harm and accepting the possibility of death, which is a key element required to establish charges based on dolus eventualis (conditional intent).

He also referred to legal precedent from a previous major maritime disaster case, arguing that a similar approach to conditional intent had ultimately been abandoned during those proceedings.

According to the defense, upgrading the charges at this stage would require transferring the case to a different court with jurisdiction over more serious offences, resulting in a significant delay to the trial.

The proceedings are scheduled to resume on Wednesday, when the court will hear further procedural objections, requests and submissions from the defence regarding the charges.