‘It is inconceivable that a minister in office during the time of the crime should be charged only with a misdemeanour, not a felony,’ said Nikos Plakias, who lost his twin daughters and his niece in the tragedy. He spoke outside the Supreme Court after families met with the investigating magistrate to submit a statement of support for the charge.

Plakias once again demanded that the charges be upgraded from breach of duty to disruption of transport safety, a felony offence under article 291 of the Penal Code.

‘We are here again today at the Supreme Court to declare our support for the charge against Mr Karamanlis. Mr Karamanlis is responsible for the death of 57 souls – probably for their murder,’ he said.

Plakias criticised both the government and the opposition, noting that the parliamentary decision to request preliminary investigations had weakened the judicial process.

‘The reason we are here today is the preliminary inquiries they insisted on in Parliament. We were shouting at the time for them not to do it – and now you see the result. We are left to gather the opposition’s scraps,’ he added.

He also condemned article 86 of the Constitution, which grants ministers immunity for acts committed in the exercise of their duties, calling it a barrier to justice.

‘We hope to achieve justice, but it is very difficult because we always run into article 86. This infamous article – this monstrosity – must be abolished. And for it to have any meaning or impact in our case, it must be applied retroactively, which makes things even harder,’ he concluded.

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