A lawyer for some of the victims of the 2023 train crash in central Greece asked the court on Wednesday to upgrade the criminal charges against two former senior officials of rail operator Hellenic Train SA from misdemeanor to felonies.
The two defendants of the Italian-owned company, the then CEO and the technical director, were referred only for the misdemeanors of serial negligent homicide, serial grievous bodily harm, and simple serial bodily harm for omissions related to the operation of the GSMR-R communication system on the trains.
The lawyer, Damianos Balassoulis, told the Three-Member Court of Appeal of Larissa that the two should also be charged with a felony charge of dangerous interference with fixed-track transportation, for which 33 out of a total of 36 defendants have also been charged.
He argued that the defendants in question did not ensure the operation of the GSM-R system and other safety systems, ignored modern fire safety standards on trains, did not ensure the maintenance of the rolling stock, and did not ensure the recruitment of the necessary personnel.
Balassoulis also argued stated that the defendants had full knowledge of the dangers on the railway network, as they had been informed by workers’ unions and reports from the Railway Regulatory Authority but did not take safety measures.
