“We were planning his wedding in six months, but instead of marrying him, we brought him back and held his six-month memorial service.”
Father Christodoulos
At the 40th hearing regarding the Tempi tragedy before the three-judge Larissa Court of Appeals for Felonies, the parents of 23-year-old Kyprianos Papaioannou appeared today to testify about what they experienced on the day of the tragic accident and in the days that followed, with their descriptions both moving and shocking.
ΣΧΕΤΙΚΑ ΑΡΘΡΑ
“I turned on the TV, and while I was holding his wedding wreaths in one hand, I saw the explosion on the other. I felt the blood drain from my body. Deep down, I knew something had happened.”
Father Christodoulos
“His phone wasn’t answering. I prayed that he would be among the injured. When they told me he wasn’t on the last bus with the injured, I froze…”
Georgia Papaioannou – Kyprianos’s Mother
The dramatic moments for Kyprianou’s parents continued even when his father went to claim his son’s body.
“Two uniformed officers came and told me that no one would be allowed to see anyone. ‘Who ordered that I not be allowed to see my child? It’s an order from very high up,’ they told me.”
Father Christodoulos
“They brought him to me in a zippered nylon bag, naked. No respect at all. Instead of dressing him as a groom, I dressed him as a corpse. It was as if I could hear my son’s voice crying out, ‘Mom, Mom.’”
Georgia Papaioannou
READ ALSO: With wine, oil, and perfumes: Kyprianos’s father, a priest, described how he tended to his son’s body to mask the smell of chemicals
Kyprianos’s father testified in court that his son’s body bore bruises, which he claimed likely resulted from the forensic examination process, while emphasizing the intensechemical odor emanating from his son’s body.
“I had poured several bottles of wine over his body to wash it off and get rid of that smell. I put oil on it, then I put perfume on it, and yet that chemical smell was still there…”
Kyprianos’ parents asked the judges to hold everyone involved accountable so that the parents of all the victims could find peace and continue to live with the loss of their children…
READ ALSO: “Who ordered that I not be allowed to see my child?”: Christodoulos’s father’s shocking testimony about Kyprianos at the Tembi trial
“There’s a knot here that won’t go away, and I don’t think it ever will. Maybe God can ease it a little, but losing a child—losing your own… in such a tragedy where half the people don’t even know who they buried…”
Father Christodoulos
Through their heart-wrenching testimony, Kyprianos’s parents sought to highlight the greatness of his soul, his love for Christ, and his love for Greece, which he wanted to serve.
READ ALSO: “It was as if I could hear my son’s voice calling out, ‘Mom, Mom’”: What Presbytera Georgia said about Kyprianos
Watch Eleni Michael’s report:
