Greek Courts Advance Tempi Railway Disaster Trial with New Claims and Rulings

The criminal trial over the February 2023 Tempi railway disaster entered the stage of separate claims by the defendants. Six defence lawyers were appointed, representing a former night‑shift station master and a former inspection chief among others. One defence lawyer argued that there was no evidence of intent to endanger safety, citing human‑error risk and lack of critical safety systems, while another sought a pre‑trial question from the EU Court on whether splitting the case file complies with Union law.

In a related hearing, the three‑judge Appeals Court of Larissa reserved judgment on a request to upgrade the charges and rejected a petition for additional interrogation of witnesses. The court also held back a decision on cancelling the indictment’s summons, awaiting possible objections from the defendants. Forensic material from the Crime Investigation Directorate was admitted as evidence, and the court expects the first individual defence arguments to be presented the following day.