Appeal trial for Mati fire to begin on Monday

The appeal trial for the deadly fire that consumed Mati in July 2018 is due to begin on Monday, with all 21 defendants back in court to be tried for the tragic devastation the fire left in its wake.

All those in charge at the time at the Fire Department, the Attica Region and in local authorities, who stood trial for the 102 deaths and 32 serious injuries inflicted by the deadly fire, will be tried again after a prosecutor appealed against the verdicts and sentences imposed by a first-instance court. A Three-member Misdemeanours Appeals Court will reconsider the unanimous acquittals for 15 of the defendants, as well as the sentences for six individuals who were found guilty.

The sixth person convicted in the first trial, a citizen found guilty of causing the fire, will be on trial after appealing against his sentence.

The date for the appeal trial was set quickly to avoid the risk of overrunning the statute of limitations, as an irrevocable decision must be reached in the case by 2026.

The 20 officials on trial faced charges of homicide through negligence, as well as causing injury through negligence. Of these only five were found guilty by the first-instance court trying the case and each was given a suspended sentence

The first-instance court had handed down guilty verdicts for a resident of Daou, Penteli who started the fire, as well as the then chief and senior officers of the fire department who were handed down suspended sentences of five years, converted into a fine of 10 euros per day.