THE government yesterday came to the defence of beleaguered Transport Minister Harris Thrassou, the man caught in the eye of the storm over last August’s air disaster.
“The public beheading of the Minister is not the issue here,” said Government Spokesman Christodoulos Pashardis at his daily news briefing.
As the minister responsible for Civil Aviation – which is suspected of cutting corners – Thrassou has come under fire from the victims’ relatives.
Last month, a group of relatives mobbed his car outside Parliament, striking the doors and windows with angry calls for his resignation.
The minister even claimed he was receiving threatening phone calls at the time.
Pressed as to whether Thrassou should stand down out of “sensitivity”, Pashardis urged journalists at least to wait until a committee of inquiry decided who was to blame for the disaster.
“Then, and only then, Mr Thrasou will judge how great a burden he shoulders that would morally oblige him to resign,” he said.
On the general question of accountability for the crash, Pashardis said:
“Airplanes do not crash on their own. Certainly the plane in question was not struck by lightning… some people are responsible, and these people shall be sought out and brought to justice.”
Meanwhile in Nicosia yesterday chief air investigator Akrivos Tsolakis met with relatives of the victims.
In an emotionally charged atmosphere, Tsolakis thanked the families for their patience and support, saying he “could not have done it without them”.
But speaking for the relatives, Nicolas Yiasoumis said they still harboured concerns that the guilty parties “might slip through the clutches of the law”.
The relatives are directing most of their ire at the embattled airline; they suspect that the company’s name-change to ajet is a legalistic ploy to evade responsibility.
They are already suing Boeing in the United States for a series of build omissions, which they feel contributed to the crash. But they fear a whitewash is in the works here in Cyprus.
But Thrassou himself yesterday gave reassurances that no such thing would happen.
“They should not worry,” he said.
