EU’s chief prosecutor investigating Tempe disaster critical of ministerial immunity
The current legal framework in Greece has not allowed the European Public Prosecutor Office (EPPO) to investigate the Tempe railway disaster fully because ministers enjoy immunity for their actions carried out during their time in office, the European Union’s chief prosecutor has said.
“We have brought criminal proceedings against 23 public officials and, in accordance with the stipulations of the Greek constitution, we have not been able to conduct the investigation against former ministers who are possible suspects in the case,” Laura Kövesi, who heads the EPPO, told Kathimerini in an interview.
In the EPPO’s view, this constitutional provision on ministerial immunity is “in breach of EU regulations and law,” she said.
“We should be able to go all the way with this investigation because everything we are looking at is related to how the money was spent on this project [to upgrade the signaling-telecontrol system on the railway network] and what ultimately happened,” she added.
Her office has been investigating the February 28, 2023, rail disaster that claimed the lives of 57 people, most of them young university students returning from a long weekend break.
Kövesi said that based on the evidence that her office has gathered, “if the project had been implemented on time and properly, this tragedy would never have happened.”
She added that a similar case in Romania has made her aware of the trauma that disasters like Tempe can cause.
“This kind of trauma cannot be healed without justice. This immunity should not exist and we should be allowed to complete our investigation,” she said.
Kövesi said that cases like Tempe demonstrate the price society pays for the slow administration of justice.
It was proof “that corruption can kill, that financial crime kills,” she said.
