Maria Karustianou resigned as president of the Association of Victims of the Tempi tragedy yesterday, after five of the seven members of its board of directors, in the wake of her decision to proceed with the establishment of a political organization. Stressing that “we will not allow the Association of the Relatives of the Victims of the Crime of Tempi to become a vehicle for personal ambitions and pursuits, five of the seven members of the Association’s Board of Directors now draw a clear line of separation from Maria Karustianou, who has reportedly already been made aware of the decision.

In the text signed by Pavlos Aslanidis, Eleni Vassara, Mirella Rouchi, Vassilis Pavlidis, and Anastasios Tahmazidis, the signatories make it known that they have already asked Mrs Karystianou to resign from her position, stressing that she cannot take a political course representing the Association. As for the announcement of the new party, the relatives argue that Maria Karystianou should have already resigned from her position as President, while they accuse her of being unjustifiably absent from the last meeting of the Board of Directors.

In detail, the statement:

“Because in recent days there has been an increasing number of statements by Ms. Karustianou that she expects to be asked to resign as President of the Tempi Victims’ Relatives Association,

Because she was absent without justification from the recent meeting of the Board of Directors of our Association, on Thursday, 8 January 2026, and has already been informed of the decision to ask her to resign, although we believe that she should have done so from the first moment she decided to proceed with the creation of a party,

Because this situation is linked to the President’s policy of acting in the name of the Association without prior notification, discussion, or approval of the Board for initiatives and positions with which the rest of the Board members do not agree,

And because she has not yet responded to the Board Resolution that was communicated to her, and we do not want there to be any misinterpretation or suspicion of this action on our part, we have decided to make it known that a majority of the Board at the last meeting.

It goes without saying that Ms. Karystianou may carry out any political activity, but not while representing the Association or using her capacity as President of the Association of Relatives of Victims of Crime Victims of Tempe.

We will not allow the Association of the Relatives of the Crime Victims of Tempe to become a vehicle for personal ambitions and pursuits.

What we want is for the Association to be a support for every relative irreparably affected by the Crime.

We are steadfastly continuing our efforts to bring to light the true causes and all those responsible for the crime that has robbed us of our loved ones. We are giving all of our efforts to have them revealed in the Trial that begins in a few months, despite the ongoing cover-up effort and fragmentation with the individual trials that are ongoing.

We thank all the people for their support and for their unyielding fight to ensure that there are no more Tempe.

This is the real vindication.

The members of the Board of Directors

Pavlos Aslanidis, Vice-Chairman
Eleni Vassara, Secretary
Mirella Rouchi, Treasurer
Vassilis Pavlidis, Member
Anastasios Tahmazidis, Member.

“Normal procedure”

At the same time, the members of the Board of Directors of the Association of Victims’ Relatives argue for Maria Karystianou that “she has not yet responded to the decision of the Board of Directors that has been communicated to her,” as noted. However, speaking to ANT1 yesterday, Ms Karystianou suggested another “avenue” for her resignation, which she does not deny, asking for a General Assembly decision.

“The reason why I am not resigning on my own is that I remain faithful to what the association defines as the purpose of its creation and existence. I have not changed at all. You will not hear from me the invective that some relatives use, which matches the invective of the South West, well, and the other parties now, you will not hear it, nor will you hear from me that with a little push, the justice system will work. Because I have done a lot of pushing, not a little, and I have seen that Justice remains steadfast in its cover-up,” she said, clarifying that she would “resign from the Association “if formally asked, through the normal process, through a general meeting and the result of the meeting.”

Faradouris out, interest from Vrettos

As for the next steps of the new party, however, Maria Karystianou yesterday drew a line of demarcation on her part this time, leaving out MEP Nicolas Faradouris.

Although “Mr Farandouris helped us a lot with Article 86,” she said, making it clear that she appreciates him as a human being, however, “the new project has some very strict operating frameworks, and one of them is that active politicians cannot join.” “The politicians who were involved in one way or another and brought the country to this situation, Ms. Karystianou also noted, with interest now turning to… runners-up, that is, executives who participated in electoral processes, but failed to be elected, to acquire an active political footprint. As is the case, for example, in the case of Maria Grazia.

Despite the… specifications, his interest in the political project Karystianos openly declared yesterday in Ertnews, the independent MP, Nikos Vrettos, coming from “Niki”, while the now independent MEP, Nicolas Farantouris, has publicly expressed his interest.

Without making a direct reference to Maria Karystianou, Farantouris commented that he “welcomes the descent into politics of any citizen, adding that he joins the call for justice and transparency, but concluding that one should “not discount my participation anywhere”.