Mati fire trial to move to Athens Appeal Court
Greece’s Justice Ministry decided to move the trial into the deadly wildfire in Mati, east Attica, in 2018, into the Athens Appeals Court complex, where the appeal hearing on the now-defunct neo-Nazi group Golden Dawn is taking place.
The trial started on Monday only to be adjourned until a bigger courtroom can be found to accommodate 21 defendants, over 210 witnesses, dozens of survivors and the relatives of the 104 people who perished in the flames in the popular seaside town.
The decision came after a meeting between Justice Minister Konstantinos Tsiaras and the heads of the Court of Appeal, Dimitris Oikonomou, the Court of First Instance of Athens, Christoforos Linos, and the head of the First Instance Prosecutor’s Office, Antonis Eleftherianos.
The two trials will take place in parallel, on alternate days, provided that the appeal proceedings for Golden Dawn will not be delayed and will be completed in a relatively short time.
The concern over the Mati fire case was that any more delays on top of those in the investigative and prosecutorial process will cause the statute of limitations to expire and the crimes the defendants are accused of being expunged.
The 21 defendants include former Attica governor Rena Dourou, as well as high-ranking municipal, civil protection, fire service and police officials.
The appeal trial against the convictions of leaders and regional members of Golden Dawn for a series of criminal activities started in June 16.
