MINISTRY OF DEFENCE - WILL IMPOSE PENALTIES ON EXECUTIVES 'WHO DID NOT DO THER JOB WELL' FOR MISSING EXPLOSIVES - Filenews 27/2
They are waiting for the result of the police investigations to see "light at the end of the tunnel" on the issue of the loss of explosives during a training exercise of the National Guard, the Minister of Defense, Vassilis Palmas, said on Thursday, stating that the investigations continue, while the internal investigation has been completed and penalties will be imposed on officials by the Chief of the National Guard.
In his statements, the Minister said that "the Police continue the investigations and we hope that in the next period of time we will have a development on the whereabouts of the explosives".
Regarding the internal investigation in the National Guard, he said that "it has been completed" and that the Chief of the National Guard, evaluating the finding, "unfortunately will impose penalties on officers who did not do their job well during the training exercise".
Asked about the people who have testified and the responsibilities, the Minister of Defense said that "I do not want to go into details. These are issues related to the internal process and anything said in terms of details can be to the detriment of the process of testimonies and the conclusion." He added that "there is a fairly large number of people who have testified."
Asked about the fact that the explosives are outside the National Guard, Mr. Palmas replied that "yes, since they have been lost, all possibilities are open", reiterating that they expect a result from the police investigations, so that there will be, as he said, "light at the end of the tunnel" to locate the explosives.
CNA
