In a public statement, Karystianou said that despite sustained efforts to preserve unity within the association, ‘division ultimately prevailed’. She accused five members of the seven-member board of attempting to remove her from the presidency through a decision she described as legally invalid and morally unacceptable, taken in violation of the law and the association’s statutes.
According to Karystianou, no board meeting was ever convened with her resignation on the agenda, nor was she notified of any such discussion. She said the decision was taken without her knowledge and in her absence, during a different meeting, following her announcement of an initiative to establish a citizens’ movement aimed at holding those responsible for the Tempe rail disaster to account and restoring the rule of law.
She argued that a board of directors has no authority to decide on the resignation of one of its members, which can only be declared by the member concerned. She also said the meeting in question failed to comply with the statutory five-day notice period.
Karystianou further accused sections of the board of acting in ways incompatible with the character and purpose of an association representing the relatives of the victims. Among the issues she raised was the refusal to approve and publish the association’s financial statements, despite repeated requests on her part.
She recalled that in an email sent to board members on 26 August 2025, she had drawn attention to the lack of cooperation and the hostile climate within the board. She said she had called an extraordinary meeting for 27 August 2025 to record the board’s work, approve and publish the financial statements and convene a general assembly to elect a new board of directors. According to Karystianou, the same members now calling for her removal refused to consent to these steps. As a result, she said, responsibility for the non-publication of the accounts was being attributed to her, despite her decision not to publish them unilaterally in order to avoid exposing other members of the association.
She also referred to criticism by the same five board members of her interventions at the European Parliament, where she had raised issues concerning the Tempe case, the rule of law and the failure of European institutions to ensure the implementation of railway safety legislation.
Stating that ‘the margins have been exhausted’, Karystianou said she could no longer remain a member of the current board. Following her resignation, the board now consists of six members, instead of the seven provided for under the association’s statutes.
She called for the immediate convening of a general assembly, as the association’s highest decision-making body, to elect a new board of directors and take decisions on issues of transparency, accountability and oversight. In closing, she appealed to the relatives of the victims and the survivors of the Tempe disaster to unite around a new board committed to pursuing justice.
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