The highly anticipated premiere of the trial for the Tempe tragedy reached a dead end on Monday, March 23rd, as proceedings were postponed until April 1st. The inadequacy of the courtroom at the “Gaiopolis” complex, which was renovated at a cost of over one million euros, provoked angry reactions from relatives and lawyers, who denounced conditions that insult the memory of the victims and undermine the administration of justice.
Pavlos Aslanidis: “A parody trial and an organized fiasco”
Leaving the courthouse, the president of the Victims’ Relatives Association, Pavlos Aslanidis, spoke of a deliberate choice of a venue that cannot support the magnitude of the trial.
“The heavily advertised courtroom that cost 1.1 million euros was a fiasco. There was no room for the lawyers, no room for the defendants. Relatives and various lawyers were sitting in the defendants’ seats. The choice was probably not coincidental at all. They absolutely don’t want this trial to begin. Unfortunately, the cover-up continues even now, and what happened today is shameful – they once again tarnished the memory of the victims. In essence, today the murdered victims of Tempe were once again the defendants.”
Mr. Aslanidis appeared particularly pessimistic about resuming proceedings on April 1st, predicting the scenario would repeat. “I don’t expect anything. The same thing will happen again. It will be a parody trial, a fiasco, and it won’t continue,” he emphasized, while directing his criticism directly at the political leadership of the Ministry of Justice.
When asked if the relatives and the Association had made any suggestions for a specific city or venue, Mr. Aslanidis said:
”Floridis should answer that – he should resign today with all this mess he has set up. The Ministry of Justice told us this courtroom was the most suitable, the largest in the country, and as you saw, they threw you out too. They didn’t let you take photos or film anything. Today the victims were put on trial, not the defendants.”
