"I am returning from Cyprus where the funeral of our fourth year student Kyprianos Papaioannou took place yesterday.
It was an experience that is indescribable and unprecedented, just as this particular accident is unprecedented," said the Dean of the Faculty of Law of AUTH, Panagiotis Glavinis, who spoke to "Connections" about the 12 University students who were on board the Intercity train 62 and tragically lost their lives in the Tempe train collision.
Speaking about the unspeakable tragedy that the relatives of the victims have been experiencing for a week, he referred to how the relatives of the Cypriot law student treated him as the only representative from Greece who honored one of the two Cypriots who lost their lives on the evening of February 28 in the conflict at Tempe.
Speaking of dignity and silent indignation in the crowd of people who said goodbye to the Cypriot student, Mr. Glavinis stated that "the silent protest of the people who attended the exodus procession was against this sloppiness and irresponsibility with which Greece unfortunately continues to hurt Cyprus", as he said.
Cyprian's coffin on a Greek flag
And as the Dean of the Faculty of Law of AUTH pointed out, what made a big impression on him was that the victim's father is a priest. "Father Christodoulos sent us his child here to study him. This case is not the same as the other children who all had the same accident and the same consequences. He is a Cypriot.
He came to Greece to study him and we sent him back dead. This is very important. So one would expect a reaction. I was expecting it and what shocked me, and I must say, it is very important, is that the coffin of Kyprian was on a Greek flag".
Speaking about how Cyprus welcomed its citizen whose body was airlifted from Greece, he characteristically said: "I was the only one from Greece (in the exodus procession) and I could have collected a little dissatisfaction and I didn't collect it. It was an incident that sent shivers of emotion across the island and throughout Cyprus.
I was on the plane with the family here from Thessaloniki. In Cyprus the family was welcomed by the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the exit procession was attended by the political leadership of Cyprus and the state leadership of Cyprus. He was the President of the Republic, he was the Speaker of the Parliament, he was the Minister of Foreign Affairs, he was the commander of the National Guard. It was everyone."
There are some limits to sloppiness
As he pointed out, in his capacity as Dean, he said goodbye to Kyprianos Papaioannou: "We undertook an obligation, a duty to study this child, I felt the need to be there to apologize for all the criminal omissions, which deprived him the youth".
Shocked by what he experienced during his stay in Cyprus, he stated that in such critical moments one sees feelings expressed like that of patriotism. "Did Kyprian show his generation, the other children who were on the train and survived, that there are limits to sloppiness? He showed what responsibility means, what duty means, what responsibility means. Personally, yesterday, I took it on in its entirety, as it concerned us and I believe that this generation, the generation of the train, must lead so that some things can now change in this country," he said.
Making an indirect reference to how the public works for decades, he characteristically said that it does not matter in the end to occupy any position, whether he is a white cat or a black cat. He should know how to catch mice.
The generation of new kids should cast us aside because we have obviously failed
On the occasion of the tragic fact that 57 people lost their lives unjustly due to omissions, indifference and a series of fatal mistakes, he expressed the opinion that "the generation of Kyprian, the generation of children who paid a very high price on March 1st, should put us aside , because we obviously failed in a very big way and he paid for it now with his life. These children should be able to build a new Greece here, a Greece that has in mind the people who suffered this great blow outside of Greece, placing the Greek flag under the coffin of this child."
He mentioned how the law school will honor the deceased Cypriot student in cooperation with our Cyprus government that funds the Law School, a school dedicated to the national issue.
Referring to how the School will support the students of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki who lost 12 fellow students in the terrible train accident, he noted that there will be some psychological support.
Making a final reference to the unfortunate 23-year-old law student, Mr. Glavinis stated that as a School, he will assist his family in legal support to claim compensation and will establish a scholarship for a Cypriot student, starting next year, who will studies at the Law School of Thessaloniki.
"Of course, all this is not going to bring Kyprian back. We do them for ourselves in order to ease a little the pain that our conscience has" added the dean of the Faculty of Law of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki saying that it was an unjust loss, the way in which it was lost aroused this emotion in particular.
Source: ERT