Seven appear in court Saturday over deaths
Seven suspects will appear in court on Saturday after being charged in connection with the deaths of dozens of people in a private nursing home in Hania, Crete.
The seven, who include the owner and her daughter, two doctors and three nurses and administrative staff, were arrested Wednesday on charges of forming a criminal organization.
The extensive case file reportedly refers to 30 homicides and eight cases of attempted homicide between 2009 and 2021, fraud, forgery, the issuing of false medical certificates, and breach of duty.
The case file states the home allocated 55 cents a day for residents’ food, which rarely included meat or fruit. The milk served was diluted with water. Feeding was often forced, with the result that some residents choked.
Residents were sometimes fed leftover food or offal provided for free by local suppliers. They were rarely washed and their clothing rarely changed while the towels and razors they used were shared. In some cases, residents were forced to wear used diapers.
The case file also states that some patients were tied to beds by their arms and legs with leather straps. It is also alleged that residents were prescribed strong sedatives.
Searches of the homes of the arrested yielded €105,000 in cash and large amounts of jewelry, which police believe are the proceeds of criminal activity. An investigation into the home was launched in April 2021 following complaints of a lack of care.
