Relatives of the victims of the tragedy in Mati at the criminal court building. KOSTAS TSOUMAS/EUROKINISI
6 out of 21 accused in the murder case fire in Matiwhich killed 104 people, were found guilty.
Found guilty
The court followed the prosecution's proposal, and the following were found guilty:
- Sotiris Terzoudis, at that time fire brigade chief (negligent homicide and negligent bodily harm due to helicopter deviation),
- Vasilis Matheopoulos, then deputy chief (negligent homicide in connection with the death of 9 people at sea),
- Ioannis Fostieris, then head of the ESKE coordination center (murder by negligence),
- Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos, at that time Commander of the Athens Fire Brigade (murder by negligence 102 people, bodily injury by negligence 32 people),
- Charalambos Chionis, Commander of the East Attica Fire Department (murder by negligence 102 people, bodily injury by negligence 32 people)
- Konstantinos Angelopoulos, a resident from whose yard the fire started.
The court, at the proposal of the prosecutor, recognized as a mitigating circumstance that Sotiris Terzoudis, Ioannis Fostieris, Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos and Charalambos Chionis had no previous offenses.
On the contrary, he rejected the mitigating circumstances requested by Mr Matheopoulos and the elderly man who started the fire. “And don't forget to praise them”Zoe Konstantopoulou, representing the victims’ relatives in court, shouted from the lawyers’ bench.
The court sentenced the six above-mentioned individuals convicted of the deadly fire in Mati, which killed 104 people. from three to 111 years, but none of them will go to prison! Sentences are paid at 10 euros per day, and those convicted must pay about 40,000 euros! The accused have already been released!
Innocent
Innocent recognized by the then governor of the Attica region Rena Duru (she was already acquitted once for the flood in Mandrealthough in that case it was a very controversial court decision) and then-Mayor of Marathon Elias Psinakisand:
- Vaios Thanasias, then deputy mayor of Marathon,
- Evangelos Bornous, then mayor of Rafina-Piquermio,
- Antonis Palpatzis, then deputy mayor of Rafina-Piquermio.
Fire service employees:
- Christos Golfinos,
- Philip Panteleakos,
- Damianos Papadopoulos,
- Christ Lambris,
- Christos Drosopoulos,
- Georgios Portozoudis
- Stefanos Kolokouris,
- Charalambos Syrogiannis – at that time ELAS air media officer,
- Ioannis Kapakis – then General Secretary of Civil Defence,
- the then mayor of Penteli Dimitrios-Stergios Kapsalis.
Relatives' reaction
Relatives of the victims who were in the courtroom reacted to the acquittal with cries of shame at the court. “I'm glad for you, I'm glad for you, you lost a child, one of the victim’s relatives shouted at the judges, and many burst into tears. “Everyone is innocent, they had to go to prison themselves.”
“Your judgment is an insult to the dead, the living and the truth” – shouted another, hearing the defendants' lawyers ask the court for mitigating circumstances.
“For us now there is no meaning in life…”sobbed a woman who lost her daughter and grandson in a deadly fire in Mati.
“They are all honest family men… I can't stand it anymore… I waited six years… Today I will have a stroke. Do you understand who you acquitted?” – continued the same woman.
“Congratulations. You have no conscience… Burn your children as you burned them. Shameful… Pathetic… In your hole… You are inhuman.”– shouted other relatives, expecting an acquittal.
“All of Greece knows what happened, and we were counting on you…”they said before the judges retired to rule on the mitigation motions.
“Let's have a fundraiser… Shame, shame…,” they shouted, while some relatives of the victims even moved towards the dock and the accused threw chairs in their direction. The crowd cried as the accused were driven away by police who intervened.
Let us remind you that the trial of those responsible for the tragic fire in Mati lasted almost 6 years. During this time, dozens of witnesses were heard, who told the court tragic stories, and also examined the reasons why so many people died.
However, the country's leadership did not risk bringing the decision-makers to justice, apparently fearing that sooner or later they would be tried for similar crimes, and ordered the court to acquit the main defendants in the case.
Such decisions usually have a wide resonance in society. And although modern “democracies” know how to stop such cases (taking into account local peculiarities), the situation can turn into serious troubles both for those acquitted and for the country’s leadership.
We are talking about anti-authoritarian organizations that are not under the control of the intelligence services. These organizations (or individuals) can take advantage of the opportunity and carry out a terrorist attack – either directed against those involved in the case, or against judges, or against the authorities in general.
This has happened in Greece many times before, and there is no reason to think that it won't happen again.
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