Magistrate probing response to 2018 Mati blaze seeks higher charges

The magistrate supervising the investigations into the response of emergency services to the deadly 2018 east Attica wildfire, on Friday submitted his third request for the gravity of the charges against certain fire service officers to be increased.

Athanasios Marneris’ two previous requests to prosecutors were dismissed on the grounds that they provided no fresh evidence. This time around, however, he has reportedly included the testimony of two helicopter pilots who claim that had they been dispatched to the fire, the outcome may have been different.

Marneris is also targeting particular fire service officers he has reason to believe were absent when they were needed most, particularly for the evacuation of the town of Mati, which sustained the greatest devastation and most of the fire’s 102 victims.