Ex-fire chief’s trial over Mati inquiry postponed until Sept. 2023

The trial of the former chief of Greece’s fire service over his alleged attempt to cover up failings in the response to the deadly blaze in eastern Attica, in the summer of 2018, was postponed on Monday until 27 September 2023.

Vassilis Matthaiopoulos faces charges of dereliction of duty and coercion, among other crimes, in the wake of a complaint regarding his response to a judicial investigation into the handling of the blaze in Mati, which claimed 102 lives and left more than 32 people with serious injuries.

Dimitris Liotsos, an expert appointed in 2018 by the Athens prosecutor’s office to investigate possible criminal negligence in the response to the fire in the east Attica town, claimed that he came under pressure from Matthaiopoulos to cover up evidence pointing to multiple failures by the fire service in its response to the blaze, which started on the slopes of Mount Parnitha and quickly spread down to the seaside resort.

Also on Monday, a judge in the main trial looking into the mishandling of the wildfire in Mati announced that the next session will be held on November 10, at the Athens Appeals Court complex.