Helios relatives demand speedy action from AG

FRIENDS and relatives of the victims of the Helios flight that killed 121 people in August 2005 yesterday called on the Attorney-general to waste no more time in starting criminal proceedings.

Attorney-general Petros Clerides received the police investigation into the plane crash on Monday, and spokesman for the friends and relatives of the victims Nicolas Yiasoumis said that Clerides should not take too long in making his recommendation.

“The Attorney-general has been in contact with the police throughout their investigation and he also has the other reports into the crash [the Tsolakis and Kallis reports] and he has to put them together,” he said.

Yiasoumi maintained that there was no excuse for such a long delay, with nearly three years having passed since the crash, with the three-year time limit for filing a law suit regarding the crash due to expire.

He also said yesterday that the responsibility of bringing the perpetrators to justice now lay with Clerides.

The Tsolakis report into the worst aviation disaster in Cypriot history blamed decompression problems and pilot error behind the crash, with the Kallis investigation allegedly naming nine people it considers amid those responsible for the disaster.

The police investigation handed to Clerides is believed to be 300 pages long and is very detailed, covering all aspects of the crash. The Attorney-general’s office refused to be drawn into the nature of the report, with Clerides declining any comment, but it is widely reported that the police have not made any recommendation as to whether or not criminal proceedings should be pursued, leaving the decision up to Clerides and the team he will appoint to study the report.

A number of relatives have already filed suits against the Republic for negligence and omissions they say led to the crash, while some relatives living in Greece have launched suits in Greek courts against former airline Helios and plane manufacturers Boeing. Others have reached out-of-court settlements with Boeing and the now defunct Helios.

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