Families of victims of the deadly Tempi train crash are suing the judiciary for an allegedly improper investigation.

The lawsuit, filed on Thursday, accuses Special Appellate Investigator Sotiris Bakaimis of failing to incorporate key evidence into the case file.

“A few days ago we learned that 649,000 audio and video files relating to the first two days, February 28 and March 1, were seized and handed over to the investigator but are not in the case file,” stated Maria Karystianou, the president of the association of victims’ families, upon leaving the Larissa courthouse.

The families allege that these materials were not included in the case file under Bakaimis’ direction.

On March 6, 2023 Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis urged the Supreme Court Prosecutor to investigate the Tempi case to the highest investigative level. One week later Special Appellate Investigator Sotiris Bakaimis was appointed to handle the case.The seized files were transferred to Bakaimis but were allegedly never incorporated into the official case file.

In a post on Facebook, Karystianou further alleged that on June 28, 2023 a forensic report analyzing the seized materials was completed, but was also not included in the investigation.

The suit reflects growing umbrage over what families describe as an inadequate and misdirected investigation into the rail disaster that killed 57 people. “After two years, we are still dealing with videos of dubious authenticity that suddenly surfaced, despite the fact that footage from the two critical days has been in the investigator’s possession from the very beginning,”  said Karystianou. “For two years, this cover-up and mockery by the investigating magistrate have been evident.”

The new videos that surfaced are reportedly CCTV recordings of the freight train before the crash. The videos first surfaced last week after an Athens lawyer reportedly obtained them from the security firm. Their authenticity is now under investigation, and there are concerns about why they were not released earlier. 

In response to the lawsuit, Supreme Court President Ioanna Klapa issued a statement defending the integrity of Greece’s judicial institutions. “The judiciary remains committed to a thorough and fair investigation,” Klapa said. “Disagreements must be expressed through legal means, not through attacks on institutions.”

But public confidence in the probe is waning.