The Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and Transport, Nikos Tachiaos, spoke about the ultra-serious matter of Theodoros Karypidis’ direct threat against the government and the Prime Minister himself, and the implied blackmail centered on incidents and vandalism at the inauguration of the Thessaloniki Metro, as he brought the matter to the attention of the public and of the justice system yesterday, Thursday, resulting in the Prosecutor’s Office ordering an urgent preliminary examination.
Speaking of a project of immense importance which it was his duty to protect, Mr. Tachiaos explained why he took the matter to the Prosecutor without a second thought. From the information he shared, it was clear that Theodoros Karypidis’ method, his choice of words and tone of voice coupled with the content of the “warning”/ threat–that “they’ll smash everything”, and the repeated recommendation that he “go tell Mitsotakis”, were revealing of Karypidis’ intentions and the actual purpose of his call.
If Theodoros Karypidis’ actual intention, as president of Aris FC, was to forewarn the deputy minister that the inauguration ceremony could be marred by violence and vandalism committed by “hot-blooded” Aris fans unhappy with the punishment meted out to their club after the away game in Volos, and if he wanted to prevent them, he would surely have gone to the Prosecutor, rather than calling a Cabinet member and going so far as to urge him to pass his message on to the Prime Minister, Mr. Tachiaos said on Parapolitika FM. And his arguments were convincing.
“Tell Mitsotakis”
“If you knew that an act of vandalism was imminent, meaning that hooligans were going to smash up the Metro, what would you do? You’d go to the Prosecutor and say ‘Mr. So-and-So and Mr. Such-and-Such want to smash up the Metro on the day of its inauguration. You wouldn’t call a government official and tell him to pass the message on to Mitsotakis,” Nikos Tachiaos told Parapolitika FM, speaking about the complaint he lodged with the Prosecutor.
“His (the football magnate) precise phrase was ‘tell Mitsotakis’, and he used it more than once. I understand someone’s tone of voice, I understand their intentions”, he explained.
“Do you know there are hooligans among your fans? Then you go to the Prosecutor and say ‘there are these hooligans and they want to wreck everything the day after tomorrow when Mitsotakis comes up to Thessaloniki’. You don’t call Tachiaos and say “tell Mitsotakis”. And because it’s not my job to tell Mitsotakis, but to take it straight to the Prosecutor instead, that’s precisely what I did. I had to protect the Metro”, Mr. Tachiaos stressed.
“I had to protect the Metro”
Mr. Tachiaos didn’t hide how much Karypidis’ phone call had taken him by surprise, but Karypidis himself made a point of explaining that Aris FC’s punishment for the game in Volos was behind the whole affair.
“I was surprised because the conversation happened the day before the inauguration. I reported it where I had to in order to protect the project. The Metro project has been part of my public life, even since ’87 when the project began. And there’s no way I’ll let anyone mess with it. Even if they came, after the publicity and to deprive the people of Thessaloniki of a joyful occasion, I wouldn’t allow it”, he added.
In response to the question about the timing of the exchange, Mr. Tachiaos pointed out “He told me himself; it was the punishment after Volos. I didn’t know anything about that at the time. I don’t follow football, I prefer basketball. Anyway, I couldn’t make the connection. I went onto the Internet to look into it, and then he sent me a message from a website talking about the demonstrations. I informed the Prosecutor, because it’s not acceptable for a couple of dozen hooligans to come and smash everything up”.
