A Greek court on Monday found six people, five top officers from the Fire Brigade and Civil Protection and a resident, guilty of the 2018 fire in Mati. Mati is east of Athens. The wildfire claimed the lives of 104 people.
None of the politicians among the 21 defendants was found guilty by the three-member misdemeanors court. All five convicted officials were let go and allowed to pay fines in lieu of serving their sentences, estimated at up to 40,000 euros ($43,000) each.
The verdict announcement triggered an angry reaction among victims’ relatives and the burn victims present in the courtroom.
“They should have walked into prison on their own. All of them innocent? There is no justice!” exclaimed a relative of a victim, who approached the front of the courtroom and began shouting at the defendants.
“Damned, you have no shame! Not even a single apology,” yelled another relative of a victim, as many others broke into tears.
Among those found guilty is Sotiris Terzoudis, the chief of the Fire Department at the time, Vasilis Matthaiopoulos then deputy chief, and Ioannis Fostieris then head of the Unified Operations Coordination Center (ESKE).
Furthermore, a guilty verdict was passed on Konstantinos Angelopoulos, the man who with criminal negligence, lit a fire in Daou Penteli, even though there were gale-force winds, which ultimately led to the disaster.
In February, the trial prosecutor, Panagiotis Maniatis, recommended guilty verdicts for nine defendants and the acquittal of twelve
others, including the then-Attica regional governor, Rena Dourou, and the then-mayor of Marathon, Ilias Psinakis. The court dismissed the guilty verdict on the above.
The risk of the statute of limitations looms even though the decision will finally be issued. Until the decision becomes final, after possible appeals to the Supreme Court, the time limits remain tight.
The Mati fire was the worst disaster of modern Greek history
It has been six years since the devastating fires of July 23, 2018 at the seaside Athens resort of Mati that left the nation plagued by unforgettable and horrifying images and accounts of the incident. That day’s fear and devastation still haunt the Greek people.
As photos and footage from that day re-emerge in the media and the posts of victim’s relatives and friends again flood social media, a resounding “WHY” still looms unanswered. The Mati fire was the worst of a series of wildfires in Greece that began in the coastal areas of Attica in July 2018.
The fires were, at that time, the second-deadliest wildfire event in the 21st century, following the 2009 Black Saturday bushfires in Australia that killed 173.
The flames were so intense they trapped and burned people in their homes, cars, or even a few meters away from the beach. Thousands of vehicles and houses were destroyed before the fire was brought under control hours later. An entire summer camp of 620 children was evacuated in an overnight operation. Many animals (wild and domestic) died or were injured due to the fire.
Over 700 residents were evacuated or rescued, mainly from the seaside settlements located north of the port town of Rafina, namely Kokkino Limanaki and Mati, where rescuers found 26 corpses trapped just meters away from the sea, apparently hugging each other as they died.
Boats also recovered corpses from the water and rescued hundreds of people from beaches and the sea. Two people drowned when the boat rescuing them from a hotel in Mati capsized.
Μore than 4,000 residents were affected by the wildfires. Then-Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras declared a state of emergency in Attica and announced three days of national mourning, stating in a televised address, “The country is going through an unspeakable tragedy.”
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