Maria Karystianou, the ‘Mother of Tempe’, Upends Greek Politics

If it were not for Maria Karystianou the railway tragedy at Tempe in 2023 that claimed the lives of 53 people would perhaps been forgotten.

Karystianou, dubbed the “mother of Tempe”, has been fighting for the last 12 months in Greece and abroad to seek justice for the victims and punishment for those responsible irrespective of their place in politics.

The Thessaloniki-born pediatrician who represents the families of the 57 victims of the train accident in Tempe lost her 20-year-old daughter Marti Psaropoulou at the train crash.

In emotional speeches at the Greek Parliament, the European Parliament and other national and international fora she almost single-handedly forced the conservative government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis into a defensive mode.

In social media networks, her name leads the trends. Her speeches are not just moving; they are thought-provoking and make you think. People see in her a person who manages to control her pain of losing her child and fights for a right to know that is not hers alone.

Maria Karystianou leads call for the lifting of immunity after Tempe

Almost one and a half million Greek citizens signed a resolution calling for the lifting of parliamentary immunity for the political figures involved in the case.

Questions she has been raising about a possible cover-up after the tragic accident and the parliamentary immunity of former ministers have kept the issue open: Who was responsible and why they are not punished?

Speaking at the European Parliament earlier in the week she said that the Greek government “initiated a sequence of bad manipulations and methods, which insults the memory of our dead and the dignity of the victims who survived.”

Karystianou noted the government through the Parliament provides the competent minister at the time and current MP Kostas Karamanlis full immunity.

“It doesn’t even refer him to face justice,” she said.

“In the first 24 hours after the fatal collision, a government cover-up was ordered for which to this day no one has taken responsibility, even though it has been publicly acknowledged,” she said.

“During the collision, flammable and illegal substances caused a huge explosion that incinerated most of them. This cargo was not even declared. Within 5 days they moved the debris and filled the area. Crucial evidence of guilt was lost,” she added.

Party politics

Some have been trying to use her for petty political purposes. Social media users wonder whether she is on the left of the political spectrum and wants to topple the conservative government with her elaborate interventions.

“No opposition party has asked me or even hinted that I may join them [in the run-up to the European elections]. I only hear these rumors from supporters of the ruling party,” she said.

Κόλαφος για τη ΝΔ η απάντηση της κας.Καρυστιανού στη χυδαία ερώτηση της Κοραή.

«Δεν έχω δεχθεί κ δεν έχει υπονοήσει ποτέ κάνεις από τα κόμματα της αντιπολίτευσης, πρόταση για πολιτική συστράτευση.
Το ακούω μόνο από υποστηρικτές του κυβερνώντος κόμματος»pic.twitter.com/I6a2ALIDG1

— Πεν Νταλαούρα (@ntalaoura) March 20, 2024

Most agree that Karystianou doesn’t belong to anyone. It belongs to herself, who is going through the hell of a terrible loss. She was driven to the center stage by pain and tragedy, but also by the insecurity she feels towards the institutions, like most Greek citizens.

Related: Greek Railway Disaster Expert Speaks of Crucial Omissions in Tempe Probe