Tempi trial: Karystianou seeks judge's recusal after court orders video forensic review

Court orders forensic review of seized video

On Friday, 13 November 2026, the single-member misdemeanour court in Larissa ordered the Hellenic Police Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DEE) to examine the seized video material before the seized items are handed over. The prosecutor had proposed the same route, arguing that a forensic report must first establish which files relate to the case before any copies are made. Relatives' lawyer Dimitris Skaripas had asked for copies of all seized material, especially the material held on computers used by the forensic experts at public services in the Thessaly region. The trial concerns the non-submission to the appeals investigating judge of video recorded during the loading of the freight train involved in the Tempi crash. Three defendants are on trial: two former senior OSE executives, the then chairman and the then managing director, and a representative of the security company that had been tasked with recording the loading and the rail network.

Karystianou demands the judge's recusal

Maria Karystianou reacted sharply to the order and asked the presiding judge to step aside. Her lawyer, Maria Gratsia, is expected to file the recusal request in writing on Tuesday, 17 November 2026, when the court reconvenes. That request will first be examined by the council of misdemeanour judges. The judge said the order would be supplemented by conditions set by the civil parties, who may appoint their own technical advisers. She also clarified that once the recusal request is filed, the forensic order cannot be carried out.

In the courtroom, Karystianou told the bench:

“No confidence whatsoever. You should recuse yourselves.”

Clashes in the courtroom

The hearing grew heated when Karystianou accused the court of wanting to cover everything up. When the judge warned that anyone who kept speaking would be removed by police, a relative of a victim told the bench that the court would have no one left to try if the relatives were expelled. She said she was not leaving the room and asked to be arrested. Karystianou then addressed the judge with a line about the death of her own child in the crash, the mother of a victim speaking to the court:

“If they bring your child to you in a bag, tell me afterwards so I can calm down.”

Lawyers Dimitris Skaripas and Vasilis Kapernaros also traded heavy insults inside the courtroom, with phrases such as "stupid" and "you are talking nonsense" and an offer to sue. The judge had already restored order by warning that disruptive spectators would be removed.

Limited civil party status

The court accepted relatives' applications to join the case as civil parties only for the offence of removing documents, and only for those already admitted in the earlier trial. That earlier trial was suspended in April 2026 after the presiding judge withdrew. The court rejected the applications filed for the first time that day, all applications concerning the offence of disobedience, and the request from Kyriakos Velopoulos, president of Elliniki Lysi, to join on all offences. Prosecutors had proposed accepting most relatives' requests and rejecting Velopoulos's request to appear in his capacity as an MP.

Karystianou's statement in Larissa

Speaking at the court in Larissa, Karystianou said she keeps attending hearings with low expectations of finding the truth and assigning responsibility. She criticised the handling of the crash site, alleging that digging machinery stirred the soil with human remains two hours after the crash. She also said toxicology tests were not carried out and that the video was not added to the case file until a year and a half later, and only after her complaint. Those claims are hers and have not been ruled on by the court. She closed her statement with this:

“We live in a country in which justice is absent when the accused are politicians.”

What comes next

The court will reconvene on Tuesday, 17 November 2026, when the written recusal request is expected to be submitted. Until the council rules on that request, the forensic examination of the seized video cannot go ahead. The proceedings are also expected to be suspended so that a new hearing date can be set.