Tempi: Tensions and shouting in trial over the “missing” videos

A highly charged process is unfolding at the Single-Member Misdemeanour Court of Larissa, where the trial is being held over the “missing” videos from the Thessaloniki Freight Station related to the fatal freight train at Tempi.

From the very start of the proceedings, the presiding judge—who returned after several days of sick leave following a tumultuous session—became the target of Zoë Konstantopoulou.

The lawyer, raising her voice, complained that during the March 9 hearing—the last session in which proceedings were conducted—copies of the seized material were not provided by the witness and court-appointed expert.

“You had announced during the previous hearing on 9/3 that the next session would deal with the evidence,” she said, describing the judge as “absent” and demanding that the reasons for her absence be disclosed, as well as the purpose of the visit by the president of the Association of Judges and Prosecutors, Chr. Sevastidis, on the same day. “The unexplained absence and the reappearance after 23 days has served to prevent us from receiving the seized documents, which none of us knows where they are or what interventions they have undergone!” she said in a particularly high tone.

Judge: I will not disclose details of my medical file to you; however, I understand the dimension this issue has taken. I assure you that these claims are unfounded. Please, counsel… I was on sick leave! Also, I did not meet with anyone at all!

The court referred to the procedure for providing copies of the seized material, stating that the process would continue normally and that lawyers would be given the floor at 12:00 to present their positions and receive the copies. This triggered another outburst from Zoë Konstantopoulou, as well as from a victim’s parent, who shouted at the judge: “Did you process them however you wanted? You are responsible for this situation!”

Judge: Calm down!

Parent: You’ve been fooling us for 20 days! At 12:00?

After a brief recess, the court resumed, with Zoë Konstantopoulou shouting: “The claims of illness are a pretext. No one breaks down in tears over a health issue! There are other reasons! Health is being used as a pretext to achieve something else—you kept us away from the evidence for 23 days!”