Yesterday, 14 May, Zoe Konstantopoulou, leader of the Course of Freedom party, appeared before the Special Appellate Judge investigating the case at the courts in Larissa. She requested a criminal probe into Professor Dimitris Karonis, a chemical engineering expert from the National Technical University of Athens, over the findings he published about the possibility that silicone oils could have caused the fireball following the crash at Tempe.

Speaking outside the courthouse in her role as legal counsel for the victims’ families, she said:

“This appointed expert must be subject to criminal investigation because it’s clear that the report, which was submitted very late, is the result of external pressure.”

She went on to link the report with delays and what she called the government’s strong desire to avoid clearly acknowledging what many scientists confirm: “that our fellow citizens – including children – were burned alive not just because of the collision itself, but due to the ignition of the massive fireball that followed, which consumed the children whose desperate cries for oxygen we still hear.”

Konstantopoulou also spoke of “scandalous manoeuvres” and accused the government of making a fierce effort to obscure the circumstances of the Tempe tragedy and to cover up its responsibility for the crime.

She then turned her criticism towards the Minister of Justice, Giorgos Floridis, condemning his crude remarks following the publication of the contentious report.

“This disgraceful man even claimed that the report ‘buries’ the cover-up case. Here we are talking about parents who have not buried their children, parents who question whether they even have their children’s bodies, and parents who are demanding exhumations to find further evidence.”

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