Deputy Minister of Transport, Nikos Tachiaos, filed a lawsuit for sabotage threats in the Metro of Thessaloniki during its inauguration scheduled on Saturday, November 30.
Fans of a local football team have expressed threatening mobilizations on the day of the Metro inauguration.
Nikos Tachiaos filed the lawsuit on Thursday morning, stating that a few days ago he received a phone call from a high-ranking official of a well-known Thessaloniki football club who warned him that on the day of the opening of the Thessaloniki metro, fans of the football team expressed threats of sabotage. Tahiaos did not name the official but asked authorities also for preventive arrests and detentions.
“I approached the head of the Appeals Prosecutor’s Office to report an incident that occurred yesterday afternoon. I received a phone call from a major official r in Thessaloniki’s football club, where I was suddenly told, “Look, thousands of people have gathered, they are preparing to spoil what you are preparing and they will spoil, they will break everything the day after tomorrow when [Prime Minister] Mitsotakis comes.” And he asked me to convey this to the prime minister,” Tahiaos said, speaking to reporters, according to local media thestival.gr.
He reportedly received also a message threatening “we’ll smash everything.”
According to information obtained from daily Efimerida ton Syntakton, the football club is ARISt, whose fans are expected to announce planned rallies on the day of the Metro inauguration in the upcoming hours.
Reason for the fans’ outrage has not been reported.
In an urgent meeting on Thursday afternoon, high-ranking officials from the Transport Ministry, the Citizen Protection Ministry and local authorities discuss and work out a security plan to prevent riots and incidents that will cast a shadow to the ceremony.
The inaugurations is scheduled to begin at 12 o’ clock noon on Saturday with a big fiesta and lots of excitement for both the government and the residents who have been waiting for their Metro for over 30 years.
