Defendants in Mandra flood trial receive suspended sentences

Eight civil servants who were found guilty of manslaughter by negligence in a trial last week over a 2017 flood that claimed 25 lives in Mandra, west of Athens, were handed 5- and 4-year suspended sentences on Thursday.

The court turned the sentence into a monetary compensation of seven euros per day.

The three-member misdemeanors court sentenced three defendants – including a deputy regional governor – to five years and 19 months, four defendants got five years and 14 months – including a second deputy regional governor – while the former mayor of Mandra received a sentence of four years and 22 months. All defendants were acquitted of dereliction of duty in the trial on June 16.

The court accepted the defense’s argument of the previously lawful life for all defendants as a mitigating factor and rejected other requests.