In an unexpected move, Defense Minister Nikos Dendias supported the request of Tempi victim father Panos Ruci on hunger strike who demands the exhumation of his son and the performance of toxicological tests so that the causes of his death are determined.
“I will not take a position here, neither as a minister nor as a government official. We have children,” Minister Dendias reportedly said on Thursday addressing the Plenary of the Greek Parliament.
“I do not understand, I tell you honestly, how a father’s right to investigate anything he judges, in any way he judges, regarding the death of his child can be prohibited.”
He stressed that he does not believe that “anyone in the government, in any government, at any time can have a different position”, criticizing the government on the substance the issue, which throws the “ball” at the Justice.
“And honestly, I hope from the bottom of my heart, the drama of this man, who is experiencing a huge drama with the loss of his child, the last thing needed is for the conditions in which this man lives to worsen, ” the minister reportedly concluded his intervention on the issue.
On the 18th day of his hunger strike outside the Greek Parliament, Panos Ruci has become the victim between the Justice and the government that obviously does not want the toxicological tests and has created a confusion right from the beginning when several judicial officials incl. the justice minister falsely claimed that an exhumation was legally impossible.
Following intense pressure by the society which showed its strong solidarity with the father and his request, the government and the Justice stepped back from the nonsense claims and allowed the exhumation but only for the purpose to identify the body, not for the tests. This was rejected by the father.
Three more victims’ families have submitted requests for exhumation and toxicological tests.
Toxicological tests of the remains of the Tempi train tragedy would determine whether the victims died due to the crash or that they were burned alive due to the huge fire that followed allowing suspicions and scenarios that the cargo train was transporting illegal substances.
The charges for those involved could then turn from misdemeanor to felony.
