Defendants in the dock again over deadly Mati fire

Twenty defendants in the case over the deadly 2018 fire in Mati, East Attica, will stand trial anew, as if they were never acquitted or convicted, after a decision by the Athens Appeals Prosecutor’s Office on Wednesday.

Following a review by Appeals Prosecutor Spyridon Papas, the controversial verdict in late April convicting only five of the 20 defendants – former officials with responsibility for rescuing citizens and extinguishing the fire – was deemed incorrect and therefore an appeal was filed for all the decisions. 

These include the acquittals, the mitigating factors recognized by the court for the five convicted – four high-ranking officials of the Fire Service and one of the Operations Coordination Center – as well as the penalties imposed and their conversion into fines.

The conviction of Konstantinos Angelopoulos, who started the fire through criminal negligence, is not included in the appeal.