The shipping minister of Greece has quit his job because of things he said on TV after a man died. People say the man was thrown off a boat by the crew.
Miltiadis Varvitsiotis said that his comments, where he seemed to support the crew of the ferry, have been misunderstood.
The captain of the ship and three workers are being accused of committing a crime that led to a person’s death at the port of Piraeus in Athens.
The event has made people in Greece very angry.
A video on social media showed a 36-year-old passenger, Antonis Kargiotis, running onto the loading ramp of the Blue Horizon ferry. The ferry was getting ready to leave from Athens to go to Crete.
Some of the people working on the ramp tried to physically prevent Mr. Kargiotis from getting on the plane. The video next shows him appearing to be pushed into the ocean.
The ferry left on time but had to come back when the authorities told it to. The body of the man was found in the water afterwards.
Last week, Mr. Varvitsiotis said on Greek TV that the families of people who went to work for money and are now being blamed for murder are also grieving.
He received a lot of criticism for his comments. The Greek newspaper Ekathimerini said that Mr. Varvitsiotis’ statement was completely wrong and very unfortunate.
On Monday, Mr. Varvitsiotis wrote on a social media platform called X (previously known as Twitter) that Mr. Kargiotis’ death had surprised everyone.
But he also said that people had started attacking him in a very harmful way after they misunderstood his statement.
He said that he did not compare the victim to the people who did the bad thing. “He said that he does not agree with being judged harshly as a person. “
Last week, the Greek Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, expressed on Facebook that he was extremely disturbed and shocked by the unimaginable fate that one of our fellow citizens suffered. It is something that our minds cannot fully grasp.
Mr Mitsotakis stated that the death happened because of a mix of not being responsible, having a negative attitude, and not caring about others. He promised that the government will fulfill its obligation.
The person in charge of the ferry and three people who work on the ferry went to see a lawyer on September 6th, the day after the man died.
The captain is being charged with a serious crime for interfering with the safety of ships at sea, and the crew member who supposedly pushed someone could be charged with causing their death on purpose.
According to the AFP news agency, the other two crew members are being legally accused of being involved in the accidental killing of someone.
Attica Group, the owner of Blue Star Ferries, said that they were very saddened by the terrible event and promised to work together with the authorities.