BACKGROUND: (Tempe): From a previous post of this Blog: "Shortly after the collision, the site was rapidly cleared and paved over, a move that many said they believed hindered thorough forensic investigations. That action potentially led to the loss of critical evidence, experts have said, including personal belongings and the remains of some victims. Families have voiced concerns that not all their loved ones were recovered due to the expedited site clearance. Allegations have also included alleged tampering with audio recordings between the station master and freight train driver designed to shift blame solely on to human error, thereby neglecting potential systemic issues and responsibilities. What is more, key surveillance footage from Thessaloniki’s Commercial Station, where the freight train was loaded before the accident, has gone missing. This footage, it has been said, could have provided insights into the cargo’s nature and loading procedures. The absence of this evidence has raised suspicions of deliberate tampering. In response, the Supreme Court Prosecutor initiated an urgent investigation to determine the reasons behind the missing footage."
https://draft.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/3906037108251508380
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MORE BACKGROUND: (Mati): "Mati was severely hit by a wildfire on 23 July 2018, which killed 103 people[1] and injured 164. The immediate cause of the fire is thought to have been a man burning brushwood in his back yard.[2] Thousands of vehicles, 4,000 homes, and 40,000 pine and olive trees were burned; the fire destroyed Mati and nearby Kokkino Limanaki.[2][3][4] About 400 people waded deep into the sea and waited hours to be rescued. Temperatures reached 800°C, fanned by gale-force winds. People blamed government inaction for the high death toll; the government blamed illegal haphazard house-building. In March 2019 a report was produced detailing many mistakes made by the authorities: mismanagement by police and fire services, and a lack of coordination between rescue agencies, had caused "chaos and a collapse of the system... criminal mistakes and omissions".
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[2]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mati,_Greece#:~:text=The%20immediate%20cause%20of%20the,waited%20hours%20to%20be%20rescued.
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QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Speaking on Skai radio yesterday, Marina Karyda, a survivor of the 2018 wildfire (Mati) and author of an incredible book/journal on the tragedy, described that day by saying that: “The [state] services were oblivious; they were indifferent and uncoordinated; a state mechanism that was absent during the fire, the rescue operation and in the aftermath. And in order to cover up for its inadequacy, it chose to blame the victims.” An astute observation and one, I dare say, that applies to more than just this particular incident."
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PASSAGE OF THE DAY: "The state’s response in Mati went back on trial recently and in her summation on the final day of the hearing on Thursday, the prosecutor demanded guilty verdicts for officials, both state and government, who had been acquitted or let off with a slap on the wrist during the first trial."
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COMMENTARY: "From Mati to Tempe: Nothing has changed," by Commennttoor Maria Katsounaki, published by Ekathimerini, on March 15, 2025.
SUB-HEADING: "How is the Tempe rail disaster of 2023 different from the deadly wildfire in Mati in 2018? The first resulted in 57 deaths, the second in 104."
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GIST: "How is the Tempe rail disaster of 2023 different from the deadly wildfire in Mati in 2018?
The first resulted in 57 deaths, the second in 104. The first has dealt a serious blow to the credibility of the current government, while the latter was damaging to the former administration under SYRIZA, which lost the elections nearly a year later.
What they mainly have in common, though, is that both exposed shortcomings everyone knows about, but no one wants to deal with aggressively: shortcomings across the board, in every part of the state machine, as well as in all the monitoring and oversight mechanisms.
And, when misfortune strikes, a habitual absence of accountability and an endless ping-ponging of blame begins, until we lose sight of the ball.
Speaking on Skai radio yesterday, Marina Karyda, a survivor of the 2018 wildfire and author of an incredible book/journal on the tragedy, described that day by saying that: “The [state] services were oblivious; they were indifferent and uncoordinated; a state mechanism that was absent during the fire, the rescue operation and in the aftermath. And in order to cover up for its inadequacy, it chose to blame the victims.” An astute observation and one, I dare say, that applies to more than just this particular incident.
The state’s response in Mati went back on trial recently and in her summation on the final day of the hearing on Thursday, the prosecutor demanded guilty verdicts for officials, both state and government, who had been acquitted or let off with a slap on the wrist during the first trial.
This was seven years after the fact, seven years during which the families of the victims wondered how no one ended up behind bars.
The course of these two unconscionable tragedies have been running on parallel tracks these past few days. Many believe that they are unrelated; Mati has been conveniently and hastily labeled a natural disaster (as if no other part of the world has experienced similarly destructive wildfires – and managed to ensure that they weren’t deadly too).
The masses of Greek society who took to the streets for the Tempe tragedy were silent when it came to Mati. Why? There are many interpretations, but none suffice. Perhaps there is no single answer.
Perhaps it was a matter of timing, of the prevalent mood, of the last straw for a society that sees its country unchanged and falling apart (both symbolically and literally), that is being dismissed with online posts and surrendered to social media.
If Mati had been analyzed properly and the criminal oversights identified, understood and rectified, then perhaps we wouldn’t have had Tempe.""
The entire story can be read at:
from-mati-to-tempe-nothing-has-changed
https://authory.com/HaroldLevy
Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
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PUBLISHER'S NOTE: I am monitoring this case/issue/resource. Keep your eye on the Charles Smith Blog for reports on developments. The Toronto Star, my previous employer for more than twenty incredible years, has put considerable effort into exposing the harm caused by Dr. Charles Smith and his protectors - and into pushing for reform of Ontario's forensic pediatric pathology system. The Star has a "topic" section which focuses on recent stories related to Dr. Charles Smith. It can be found at: http://www.thestar.com/topic/charlessmith. Information on "The Charles Smith Blog Award"- and its nomination process - can be found at: http://smithforensic.blogspot.com/2011/05/charles-smith-blog-award-nominations.html Please send any comments or information on other cases and issues of interest to the readers of this blog to: hlevy15@gmail.com. Harold Levy: Publisher: The Charles Smith Blog.
SEE BREAKDOWN OF SOME OF THE ON-GOING INTERNATIONAL CASES (OUTSIDE OF THE CONTINENTAL USA) THAT I AM FOLLOWING ON THIS BLOG, AT THE LINK BELOW: HL:
https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/120008354894645705/4704913685758792985
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FINAL WORD: (Applicable to all of our wrongful conviction cases): "Whenever there is a wrongful conviction, it exposes errors in our criminal legal system, and we hope that this case — and lessons from it — can prevent future injustices."
Lawyer Radha Natarajan:
Executive Director: New England Innocence Project;
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FINAL, FINAL WORD: "Since its inception, the Innocence Project has pushed the criminal legal system to confront and correct the laws and policies that cause and contribute to wrongful convictions. They never shied away from the hard cases — the ones involving eyewitness identifications, confessions, and bite marks. Instead, in the course of presenting scientific evidence of innocence, they've exposed the unreliability of evidence that was, for centuries, deemed untouchable." So true!
Christina Swarns: Executive Director: The Innocence Project;
