Probe into Mati cover-up claims gets under way
A judicial inquiry got under way on Tuesday into the revelations of a report by Kathimerini pointing to an apparent attempt by officials of the previous leftist-led government to cover up the gross mishandling of the catastrophic July 2018 wildfires in Mati, eastern Attica, including testimony by a fire service officer suggesting he was threatened by superiors.
Dimitris Liotsios told a magistrate in March that he was threatened by former fire chief Vassilis Matthaiopoulos into burying his findings and that he feared for his life.
Meanwhile former citizens’ protection minister Olga Gerovassili said she was shocked at the revelations and at what she described as an attempt to implicate the then political leadership in the cover-up.
The Athens Journalists’ Union ESIEA criticized Gerovassili for suing Kathimerini over the story, noting that the newspaper had the right to publish information that could serve the public interest.
