“The government cannot be threatened, nor does it interact in this manner,” Nikos Tachiaos reiterated on Friday, speaking on the ANT1 newscast a day after his statements before a Thessaloniki appellate level prosecutor.
According to the accusation made public by the deputy minister, a top Aris FC executive warned him that fans would “ruin” Saturday’s inauguration ceremony for the new Thessaloniki metro system – which Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, among others, is due to attend – in protest over a decision banning spectators from one of the team’s games.
“Anyone who informs us that an infrastructure project is going to be vandalized has to be referred to the courts,” Tachiaos said, citing the threats he alleges he received. He added that he’s even more surprised, given that “we’re talking about a team that recently lost one of its supporters to violence committed by hooligans.”
“When I took the phone call, I didn’t even know what we were talking about”, he said, before quickly clarifying that “the threat referred to the Metro”.
“We don’t converse like that; we talk about the Metro and set team affiliations to one side.”
In subsequent statements to state broadcaster ERT, Tachiaos stressed: “…when you want to complain about something that concerns sports violence, about a decision issued by the standing committee for the prevention of violence, then you head to the prosecutor. When you know some people are going to cause trouble – because they never denied this was the case or gave me any details – then you head to the public prosecutor, you don’t call a deputy minister to tell him ‘…take it to the prime minister… take note of the tone of my voice…’”
“…We don’t interact in this manner. No one can blackmail or threaten the Mitsotakis administration.”
Tachiaos went on:
“The task at hand is this: we have to hand the Metro over to the people of Thessaloniki. And—let me make this clear, no one is going to wreck the city’s grand celebration. We must get away from ‘Oh Athens this… oh, they don’t give us anything… oh they’re so unfair…’ ”
Prosecutor’s intervention
As widely reported, an urgent preliminary investigation has been ordered by the head of the Thessaloniki appellate court prosecutor’s office, Nikos Kallidis, after the report filed by Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport Nikos Tachiaos, who said he received threats from a top executive at a Thessaloniki football club, warning of trouble on the day the Metro system would be inaugurated in the city, with reliable sources pointing to Theodoros Karypidis.
Moreover, the prosecutor’s office has called for immediate arrests to take place if any incidents occur, so that those conveying such threats are held accountable before the courts.
