A ninth jailed executive or high-ranking cadre of Ergose, the infrastructure affiliate of state-run Hellenic Railways Organization (OSE), was reportedly poised to be set free on bail this week, with media attention piqued by the ease with which the defendants came up with the large cash guarantees.
The Ergose staff-members were remanded into custody pending trial in the wake of the deadly Tempi rail collision in north-central Greece in late February 2023. Their arrest did not stem from the collision itself – which claimed 57 victims – but is related to the oft-delayed EU-funded contract 717 for rail safety infrastructure, a 15-million-euro project that Greece’s public rail sector failed to implement fully, with repeated extensions given.
In the latest instance, a local prosecutor acting at the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) investigating magistrate in the case involving the, along with the prosecutor assigned by the Greek justice system, on Monday imposed a 900,000-euro bond for the specific defendant.
Another high-ranking official paid 800,000 euros to win his release on bail, with nine in total defendants now freed pending trial.
