The short roadmap with the 2+1 steps for criminal prosecution against Christos Triantopoulos and his referral to the Judicial Council was decided by the majority of the members of the Pre-investigation Committee of Parliament.

According to the final decision of the majority of the Pre-investigation Committee, the former deputy minister will be summoned for explanations on Friday, March 28, 2025, at 10 am. After that, the parties will have about 10 days to draft their final reports, and the complete report will be presented to the Plenary within the first two weeks of April for the final vote.

The report will propose criminal prosecution for the offense of dereliction of duty, and if approved by at least 151 MPs—which is highly likely—Mr. Triantopoulos will be referred to the Judicial Council. The five-member composition of the Supreme Judicial Council will be determined by a lottery.

According to the same information, the majority’s proposal, which was approved by voting, mentions that the evidence included in the prosecutor’s order for the case of altering the site of the railway accident is sufficient to prosecute Mr. Triantopoulos. In fact, the MPs of New Democracy referred to the PASOK proposal for the formation of the Pre-investigation Committee, which states that Mr. Triantopoulos would have already been prosecuted by the competent prosecutor if he were a private individual and not a government member, as the evidence is sufficient.

It should be noted that opposition parties, except the Spartans and Plevsi Eleftherias, withdrew from the relevant vote in order not to legitimize, as they argued, the “unconstitutional” decisions of the majority.

The opposition’s positions

On the side of PASOK, Ms. Milena Apostolaki argued that the majority’s proposal undermines the functioning and credibility of the Institutions. She denounced an attempt to deliberately bypass the preliminary examination and directly refer Mr. Triantopoulos to the investigation stage, in violation of the Constitution. Ms. Apostolaki insisted on the need to maintain criminal jurisdiction in Parliament and seemed to describe the transformation of PASOK’s proposal for forming the Pre-investigation Committee into a proposal for prosecution as a “maneuver.”

Mr. Vasilis Kokkalis from SYRIZA spoke of the “absolute humiliation” of the Constitution and the law. “They rejected the witnesses we proposed, starting with the prime minister. Selectively, and in violation of the law, they call Mr. Triantopoulos for explanations. We abstained from the vote in a mock process,” he noted.

ND: The 3 reasons why Triantopoulos’ request should be accepted

New Democracy MP Konstantina Karabatsouli, presenting the majority’s proposal, supported that Mr. Triantopoulos’ immediate referral to the Judicial Council is in line with the Constitution, guarantees a full investigation of the Tempi tragedy by senior judges without party conflicts, and is based on the prosecutor’s order, which was invoked by PASOK and other opposition parties for the formation of the Pre-investigation Committee.

Closing

According to reports, she presented three main reasons supporting the majority’s proposal, stating, among other things:

1. She countered the opposition’s claims that immediate referral does not align with the Constitution, emphasizing that Triantopoulos’ request is “fully consistent with Article 86 of the Constitution” regarding the criminal treatment of government officials, as well as with the Regulations of Parliament. Ms. Karabatsouli reminded that the constitutionally defined task of the committee is to prepare a report, which will recommend to the Plenary whether or not criminal prosecution should be pursued against the former deputy minister. In this context, she clarified that the committee does not have the authority to judge someone’s guilt but merely to assess whether there are sufficient indications for criminal prosecution.
2. She highlighted that for the management of the Tempi tragedy, for which Mr. Triantopoulos is being investigated, criminal prosecution has already been pursued against four non-political individuals. She also reminded the opposition that PASOK MPs themselves, on page 16 of their request for the formation of the Pre-investigation Committee, argued that if Mr. Triantopoulos were not a deputy minister, he would have already been referred along with the four other accused. Ms. Karabatsouli noted that the preliminary examination by the appellate prosecutor has already been completed for the four individuals. “Since criminal prosecution has already been pursued against the private individuals based on the specific evidence, we suggest that no further investigative actions are necessary, beyond those taken by the appellate prosecutor, and propose to the Plenary to proceed with criminal prosecution so that the case of the former deputy minister can be referred to the Judicial Council,” she said. The majority’s spokesperson added that the evidence submitted, as thoroughly analyzed in the prosecutor’s order, is sufficient for the necessary indications, which make further investigation by the Judicial Council necessary.
3. Ms. Karabatsouli further emphasized that, given the public demand for full transparency regarding the Tempi tragedy, the Judicial Council “guarantees the complete and thorough investigation of all aspects” of the case, as it is staffed by five senior judges who will be selected transparently through a public lottery. She refuted the claims that the Judicial Council would not be able to carry out meaningful work, explaining that the Areopagite who will be selected as the investigator has “no restrictions on his investigative authority” and enjoys all the investigative powers of the Pre-investigation Committee. Ms. Karabatsouli concluded by stating that with immediate referral to the Judicial Council, Mr. Triantopoulos agrees to bypass a stage that, in political terms, would have worked in his favor, due to the governmental majority.