Like any major event, the historically significant event of the inauguration of the Thessaloniki Metro had its own sideshow. I am referring to the complaints that Deputy Minister Tachiaos made publicly, after having previously visited the Prosecutor of Appeals. To what he revealed about a threatening phone call he received from the president of Aris FC, Theodoros Karypidis, who, following a decision by an independent body that imposed a two-game suspension behind closed doors on the Thessaloniki team, deemed it appropriate to call the Deputy Minister of Infrastructure and warn him about the reactions of organized fans.

As soon as I heard what Tachiaos said, I started calling left and right in case I found out more details. Although the mouths were somewhat… closed, I nevertheless gathered something. I learned, then, that President Karypidis, visibly irritated, rushed to call Deputy Minister Nikos, to warn him (he says) about what was to come. He told him that in view of President Mitsotakis' visit, fans would be popping up at the venue where the inauguration ceremony would take place. As a good and law-abiding citizen, the President of Aris considered it institutionally imperative to provide timely, as if he were a police officer, the relevant information to a government official. From my report it appears that Karypidis had mixed things up a bit and that in essence he "used" Tahiao to send (he says) a message personally to President Mitsotakis.

If I understood correctly, it was somewhat as if he was giving an order to the Deputy Minister, while at the same time warning about what was going to happen on the occasion of the Prime Minister's visit to Thessaloniki. According to my report, the phone call to Karypidis was followed by an SMS from him to Tachiaos's mobile phone, which SMS contained a link to a publication that essentially confirmed what the president of Aris had said orally to the deputy minister.

…the report to the prosecutor…

Tachiaos, who I will not hide from you that I did not have it from him, so he pleasantly surprised me, as soon as he hung up the phone, as he should have, informed the central government in detail. Without a second thought, an order was given to do the right thing before the Court. Thus, he went to the prosecutor of the Court of Appeals, where he filed a named report with what had taken place a few hours earlier. The deputy minister detailed the content of the conversation he had with Karypidis, focusing on the threatening things the president of Aris had uttered. He even asked for a criminal assessment of Karipidis' behaviour, which I understand will be relatively easy, even if half of what the deputy minister said is taken into account. Of the few bachelor's degrees I know of on law, the point that is of particular value in the Tahiaos report is related to the report that "they (the Aris fans) will break them and I will not stop them". Based on the provisions, this substantiates the offense of threatening to use violence. In any case, since we are talking about a named report, the prosecutorial authorities must investigate, among other things, the criminal responsibilities that Karipidis' behaviour entails.