A new cycle of contradictions in the case of the altered audios with the internal conversations of the OSE opened last week and with critical questions remaining unanswered.
Following the recent publication of “Sunday’s Step”, the motion of impeachment against the government and the debate in Parliament, the latest development in the investigation of the case raises a number of new issues.
Confiscation a year later
The crucial and possibly decisive development of the last few days was the confiscation by the Police, in the presence of a public prosecutor, of the hard disks with the original audio recordings of the conversations of the detained stationmaster and the train drivers on the night of the tragic accident on February 28, 2023.
The major issue raised is why this development took place, obviously following the relevant publication and, in any case, a whole year after the accident. It is noted that it was reported from the first days after the accident that the electronic files with the dialogues in question had been handed over by the OSE to the police and prosecutors already within the first twenty-four hours after the tragic event.
An explanation that is being attempted is that the files were seized now so that there is certainty that the original audios and not the falsified ones have been included in the case file.
However, it doesn’t explain why these actions weren’t done earlier, while raising the issue of dialogue falsification in a new way. Among other things, the question of what exactly was delivered to EL.AS is raised on a new basis. and at the Prosecutor’s Office on March 3, 2023, as repeated in the previous days by the interim managing director of the OSE Panagiotis Terezakis.
Based on the latest developments, it is not clear whether the audios handed over a year ago contained the altered conversations or the originals, and however, it is put on a different footing as to why the seizures were made a full year after the crash.
The outstanding questions
In the wake of these latest developments, there is also a new uncertainty as to what will be found from the analysis of the seized evidence and what new cycle of revelations and consequences could be opened. In combination with these, however, it is likely that there could be new developments, as long as the pressure is intensified to give convincing answers to the four main outstanding questions:
- Who or who took the original audios in the first hours after the crash?
- Who or who did the technical editing and stitching of excerpts from different conversations?
- Who or who then leaked the redacted files to the public?
- And – possibly the most crucial – if all of the above were ordered by whom and when.
The parallel investigations
At the same time and in the wake of the impeachment motion against the government, a new round of investigations is underway, also with a notable time delay.
By order of the appellant investigator Sotiri Bakaimi, who conducts the investigation into the causes of the accident in Tempe, an echelon of the Chemical Service, together with experts and in the presence of a public prosecutor, would on Friday carry out a sample check in the private area where the remains of the earthworks had been moved from the site of the accident.
A similar check had been made at the scene of the tragedy and in Koulouri, while based on the new prosecutor’s order, an additional check has been ordered for the possible detection of genetic material.
In the light of these developments and pending the results of the audits, the questions regarding the timing of the new cycle of investigations and the possible omissions of the entire previous period are posed in a different way.
And in addition, as the investigation of the case by the Justice develops, it remains to be seen if and how any indication of political responsibility will emerge and how this could open a new cycle, possibly ending with the rekindling of the debate on the establishment of a preliminary investigation committee.
An open wound in the polls
All of the above is happening and developing as a new wave of opinion polls reveals that the Tempe case remains an open wound and raises important questions about the government’s handling of it.
Despite the fact that the ND is still leading by a chaotic margin in voting intention, albeit with significant polling losses of around five points, the sense is entrenched that the political management of the disaster has been unfortunate at best.
Indicative of the moods and perceptions of the citizens were the findings of the two investigations of the previous week, especially regarding the case of Tempi.
In the Pulse poll for Sky TV, a total of 61% of respondents appear to view the opposition’s proposal to establish a preliminary inquiry into the crash positively.
At the same time, 54.5% of respondents to MRB’s Open poll believe the recent censure motion against the government was justified.
In this light it is clear that the government is faced with a widespread feeling, more or less well-founded, that the accident investigation has not provided comprehensive and conclusive answers. It is estimated that much will be decided afterwards by the course of the investigation before the Court and whether new evidence will emerge there, both in terms of the facts and in terms of whether political responsibility for the accident is established, as the opposition.
New wave of difficult to manage pressures
The critical pending matter from a political point of view remains one, and on its removal or not much will depend. It is whether and to what extent evidence will emerge along the way that will establish political responsibility for the accident itself or the attempted cover-up, which the opposition insists on, and whether this will lead to a new round of proceedings (pre-investigation committee) and politics conflict.
Should this happen, the government will surely be faced with a new wave of pressures, possibly difficult to manage.
Otherwise, these pressures are likely to weaken.
But it is estimated that the general feeling that has prevailed will still be an open wound for the credibility of the government, which will have a combined and cumulative effect with the rest of the issues that concern the citizens and will shape the balance of political moods, depending on the degree effectiveness in dealing with them.
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