The two EAD auditors are charged with breach of duty. They had been tasked with investigating delays in the implementation of contract 717 with ERGOSE — delays considered a decisive factor in the fatal collision of 28 February 2023, which killed 57 people and caused damage to the Greek state estimated at over €3m. Their report concluded that ‘criminal liability should not be attributed to the bodies of the Managing Service and the Head Authority of ERGOSE’, effectively clearing all parties involved.
In a joint statement, SYRIZA’s Transparency Department and its head, Pavlos Polakis, accused the government of sending the state, through the State Legal Council (NSK), to defend the accused auditors rather than the public interest. They also called for EAD administrator Ms Rogakou to be summoned before a parliamentary committee to account for what they described as methods contrary to the public interest.
The statement noted that at the trial’s opening in November, the court had accepted the appearance of victims’ relatives as supporting the prosecution, and had formally required the NSK to appear on the same side. Instead, the NSK sought an opinion from the Supreme Court on its obligations, received a negative response, and subsequently continued to appear in defence of the accused while also attempting to overturn the court’s earlier decision.
‘This is an unprecedented tactic. In Greece 2.0, the rule of law is becoming a piece of paper every day in the hands of truly unscrupulous people,’ the statement read.
The Association of Victims of the Tempi Accident of 28 February 2023 filed a separate complaint the day before the hearing, denouncing what it called an ‘unprecedented and provocative attempt by the Greek state to nullify the voice of the victims and their relatives in the courtrooms.’
The association detailed how the state had sought to have the November 2025 court decision overturned by the Supreme Court, with the twin aim of excluding victims’ relatives from the proceedings and preventing the state from appearing as a civil plaintiff — thereby, it argued, allowing the cover-up of those responsible to continue unimpeded.
The attempt failed. By a document from the Supreme Court Prosecutor’s Office (Protocol No 1744, dated 2 March 2026), the appeal was rejected and filed.
‘No legal manoeuvres and no state arbitrariness will stop us. The Greek state must stop protecting the guilty and start serving the law,’ the association stated. ‘We will be in court tomorrow. For our people who were lost. For the truth that is not hidden.’
Translator’s note: ERGOSE is the Greek railway infrastructure company responsible for signalling works on the network. Contract 717 relates to a signalling upgrade on the Larissa–Thessaloniki line whose delayed implementation is considered a key contributing factor to the Tempi collision.
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