The prosecutor at the Appeals Court in the retrial for the 2018 Mati wildfire, which claimed 104 lives, has requested the conviction of 12 out of the 21 defendants. [1], [2].
Among those, the prosecutor called for the conviction of senior Fire Department officials, including the Chief and Deputy Chief, the then Attica Regional Governor Rena Dourou, the then Mayor of Rafina-Pikermi Evangelos Bourounis, the then General Secretary of Civil Protection Ioannis Kapakis, and the resident from whose house in Daui Penteli the fire started.
The charges are of a misdemeanor nature, and in the first trial, five Fire Department officials and the resident were convicted, but no political figures were.
The closing arguments are now underway, and the Court of Appeals is expected to announce its decision on the sentences before Easter.
Regarding Fire Department Chief Sotiris Terezioudis, the prosecutor stated that when the need for rescues arose, he should have ordered their rescue using Fire Department resources and not left it to the Coast Guard. “He should be found guilty because these omissions led to the outcome, and due to his position and experience, he should have anticipated the disastrous result of the fire,” the prosecutor added.
For then Regional Governor Rena Dourou, the prosecutor emphasized that “she had an obligation to be informed and then inform and cooperate with the responsible authorities and local officials for the protection of citizens,” and for Mr. Bourounis, that he failed to inform citizens and take necessary civil protection measures.
The General Secretary of Civil Protection, according to the prosecutor, “did not assess the fire’s danger and left it to lower-ranking officials.”
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