Greek parliament referred the case of a former transport minister to judges to decide whether he will be prosecuted over his handling of the country’s worst rail tragedy, which left 57 dead in 2023.

A government majority in parliament concluded late on Tuesday its investigation into Kostas Karamanlis – a member of one of Greece’s most powerful political families – suggesting he is likely liable for a misdemeanour offence.

The case surrounding Karamanlis, who as a lawmaker had benefited from parliamentary immunity, will now be referred to a panel of five judges for further examination.

Opposition parties, who were seeking criminal charges for Karamanlis, accused the conservative government of watering down the former minister’s responsibilities by backing a probe into a lesser charge.

Karamanlis has denied wrongdoing and welcomed the parliamentary investigation as an opportunity to clear his name.

Fifty-seven people, most of them young students, were killed in February 2023 when a passenger train and a freight train collided near Tempe, central Greece, having been allowed to run on the same track for 12 minutes.

The tragedy sparked sweeping strikes and hundreds of protests in Greece and abroad, denouncing the country’s failure to properly investigate the accident.

Over 40 people have been prosecuted over the collision, including the station master responsible for routing the trains that night.

Karamanlis, the cousin and nephew of former prime ministers, has insisted he did “everything” in his power to improve the state of Greek railways.

He resigned from his position after the accident but was re-elected to parliament just months later, topping his home constituency.

In a similar move, lawmakers had previously voted to refer a former junior minister, Christos Triantopoulos, to a panel of judges on possible misdemeanour charges for breach of duty, in connection with the aftermath of the accident.

Opposition parties say Triantopoulos, who was dispatched to the scene by the then prime minister, authorised the bulldozing of the crash site, resulting in the loss of vital evidence.

Triantopoulos also denies any wrongdoing.

Source: AFP