Absences following a barrage of complaints and tensions in the \u201ctrial of Tembi,\u201d neither Maria Karystianou<\/b> in the audience of the \u201cGaipolis\u201d courtroom in Larissa.<\/p>\n
When the trial began last March, three years after the train train tragedy in Tempi, a particularly tense atmosphere developed, with the victims\u2019 relatives\u2014led by Maria Karystianou\u2014 and the defense attorneys, led by Zoe Konstantopoulou <\/b>and Nikos Konstantopoulos<\/b>, to denounce the unsuitability of the courtroom<\/b> and, in no uncertain terms, to speak of an organized plan aimed at undermining the social significance of the proceedings.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u201cWe want the guilty to be punished,\u201d they declared at the start of one of the most eagerly anticipated and emotionally charged trials of recent years in the specially designed courtroom in Larissa, before the Three-Member Court of Appeals for Felonies in Larissa.<\/b><\/p>\n
After successive adjournments, on May 27, 2026, the trial was set to resume, as the renovation work<\/b> had been completed, and the courtroom, which had been 283.75 square meters at the trial\u2019s opening session on March 23, had been expanded to 452 square meters, just asthe number of seats had also increased by 100.<\/b><\/p>\n
The number of seats was increased, only to end up empty. And the packed courtroom of the early days is slowly losing its noise and the audience its\u2026 vibrant energy.<\/p>\n
And just when calls were pouring in for a larger courtroom capable of meeting the needs of such an important trial of intense public interest, regarding the public gallery, which was situated on a different level from the courtroom, hindering the smooth observation of the proceedings, and regarding incidents where children and close relatives of victims were not allowed entry due to alack of space, the seats gradually began to empty. <\/b><\/p>\n
From the victims\u2019 relatives<\/b>themselves, who express disappointment with the proceedings and are filing appeals with the European Court of Justice, the defendants\u2014who will be present only at hearings where their presence is required\u2014the television cameras, and the media representatives. That is also where the latest mass protest<\/b> took place, while the accusation that the renovated courtroom essentially operates as a \u201crestaurant license,\u201d despite the millions of euros spent on its renovation.\u00a0Ultimately, only the victims\u2019 relatives, the injured survivors, and the Greek State are expected to be present at the trial.<\/b><\/p>\n
The Three-Member Court of Appeals for Felonies in Larissa accepted the Greek State\u2019s statement and excluded the Bar Associations and the Panhellenic Union of<\/b><\/p>\n
The trial resumes, then, shortly before recessing for the summer break, against the backdrop of a simple, everyday trial, where prosecutors and defense attorneys\u2026 are locked in a legal battle. In the courtroom, just over 150 people. And many of them are absent\u2026<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2026It takes patience and courage from all the parents and relatives who are here, on this Golgotha. Today, hundreds of buses will arrive from all over the country; thank you\u2014they will be a driving force,\u201d said Pavlos Aslanidis last March.<\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cUnfortunately, I\u2019m coming with very low expectations,\u201d said Maria Karistianou, adding: \u201cNo investigation has been conducted into the death of my child, who was burned alive, nor is there a defendant\u2026 There is no indictment regarding Contract 717, nor are any high-ranking officials standing trial\u2026 We, as parents, sit and watch this whole farce. We will continue to speak out, demand the truth, and do whatever is necessary.\u201d<\/p>\n
Last May, the victims\u2019 relatives were torn apart. The announcement by Karystianos\u2019s party shifted the balance of power within the Association of Victims\u2019 Relatives as well as among the audience in the courtroom where the high-profile trial is taking place.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight now, there is a shift in focus. Any statement made by a victim\u2019s relative who is involved in party politics or has other motives does not help the progress of the case,\u201d noted Pavlos Aslanidis.<\/p>\n
April was marked by criticism from judges and victims\u2019 relatives regarding the extreme scenes featuring Zoi Konstantopoulou, president of the Freedom Movement, and hertoward the president of the Union of Judges and Prosecutors, Christoforos Sevastidis<\/b>, as well as the two criminal cases filed against her for illegal video recording inside the courthouses.<\/p>\n
Vehement protests, objections, and serious allegations that seem to have\u2026 fizzled out. Just like the fervor of those orchestrating them, who had rushed from the very beginning to exploit the tragedy at Tempi<\/b> and to fan the outrage of victims\u2019 relatives and defense attorneys regarding the conditions under which the trial was conducted, the infrastructure, and the legal maneuvers. <\/p>\n
The situation has become tense following the court\u2019s decision to accept the Greek government\u2019s intervention in support of the prosecution. The relatives speak of \u201cprovocative maneuvering\u201d aimed at bolstering the government\u2019s narrative that the incident was solely due to \u201chuman error.\u201d <\/p>\n
Frequent interruptions, heated verbal exchanges, and a tense atmosphere, with the families of the 57 deceased demanding the full disclosure of the truth and accountability at all levels during the initial hearings.<\/p>\n
Gradually, the trench warfare shifted locations and moved out of the specially designed \u201cGaipolis\u201d courtroom in Larissa, where the trial was being held.<\/p>\n
And some took care to fabricate an alibi by aligning themselves with Maria Karystianou\u2019s statements denouncing and refusing to recognize as legitimate the specific judicial proceedings regarding the Tempi tragedy<\/b>, denouncing it as a \u201cmock trial\u201d and an alleged attempt to protect the guilty. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Absences following the barrage of complaints and tensions in the \u201cTembi trial\u201d; Maria Karystianou was also absent from the audience in the \u201cGaopolis\u201d courtroom in …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":12505,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12504","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-politics"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12504","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=12504"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12504\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/12505"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=12504"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=12504"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/en.tomanifesto.gr\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=12504"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}