The Athens Bar Association (AAA) in response to statements by “political figures who target lawyers for the way they carry out their defence work in the Tempi case”, in a statement, notes that “any attempt to interfere with the work of justice and the attorneys’ proxies is unequivocally reprehensible”.

At the same time, the IOA in another part of its statement underlines: “The full investigation of the Tempi crime, the attribution of responsibility, where it belongs, and ultimately justice, is a common demand of all citizens and a debt of all of us towards the dead, their families, the generations to come, and indeed society as a whole. No question should be left unanswered”.

The full text of the IOA’s statement is as follows:

“The lawyer, as a collaborator of justice, serves the interests of both justice and the persons whose rights and freedoms he has been called upon to assert and defend, by the applicable laws and legal ethics.

2. Respect for the profession of the lawyer is a basic prerequisite for the rule of law and democracy. Those who attempt to mislead public opinion by trying to attribute humble motives to the attorneys representing the parties, especially the families of the victims, to denigrate the exercise of their profession are irreparably exposed. We simply inform them that the criminal character of a tort as a crime or accident has no bearing on the award of damages for moral injury or mental anguish.

3. Any attempt to interfere with the work of the judiciary and the attorneys’ proxies is unequivocally condemned.

4. We recall that the Plenary and Bar Associations have declared from the very first moment their representation in support of the prosecution in the context of their institutional mission in this trial, without any financial benefit and will assist in every way and at all costs in the full investigation of the case and the attribution of any responsibility. However much this may annoy some people.

5. The full investigation of the Tempi crime, the attribution of responsibility, where it belongs, and ultimately justice, is a common demand of all citizens and a duty of all of us towards the dead, their families, the generations to come, and indeed society as a whole. No question should be left unanswered.”