The Court of Misdemeanors Appeals has just ruled the guilt of 10 out of the 21 total defendants in the deadly 2018 Mati wildfire. The court differed in two cases from the earlier recommendation made in March by prosecutor Stamatina Perimeni. Among those acquitted was Rena Dourou, despite the prosecution having recommended her conviction. Upon hearing the verdict, relatives of victims erupted in anger, shouting: “Shame on you,” and “They destroyed our homes and you do the same.”
Specifically, the court found guilty of misdemeanor charges—including manslaughter by negligence and bodily harm in a series—the following senior fire department officials at the time:
- Sotiris Terzoudis (Fire Chief)
- Vasilis Matthaiopoulos (Deputy Chief)
- Ioannis Fostiéris (Commander of ESKE)
- Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos (Athens Fire Services Commander)
- Charalambos Chionis (Eastern Attica Fire Services Commander)
- Filippos Panteleakos (Director of Civil Protection Operations Center)
- Christos Golfínos (Director of the 199 emergency line)
- Damianos Papadopoulos (Commander of Nea Makri Fire Station)
- Ioannis Kapakis
- Konstantinos Angelopoulos (on whose property the fire began)
Acquitted were:
- Rena Dourou, former Governor of Attica
- Ilias Psinakis, then Mayor of Marathon
- Antonis Palapatzis, Vaios Thanasias, and Dimitris Stergiou-Kapsalis (local officials)
- Christos Lambris, Fire & Rescue Director
- Christos Drosopoulos, FLOGA vessel commander
- Georgios Portozoudis, Commander of YEMS
- Stefanos Kolokouris, then Commander of EMAK
- Charalambos Syrogiannis, former deputy commander of police aviation
- Evangelos Bournous, then Mayor of Rafina
Black balloons were placed outside the courthouse by victims’ relatives, while inside the courtroom, white rose bouquets were arranged early in the morning. When police tried to remove them, family members objected, saying they were in memory of the victims. Eventually, the flowers were distributed among the relatives, who had filled the courtroom early on.
The court is currently in recess, and defense attorneys are expected to argue for mitigating circumstances next.
According to the court president, the actions or omissions of those found guilty contributed, due to their positions, to the tragic outcome involving over 100 deaths and severe burn injuries in the deadly wildfire.
During the verdict announcement, the court president stated:
“No potential intent was established that would support the felony offense of endangerment.”
This is significant because victims’ relatives had been requesting felony-level charges from the investigative stage.
“104 people burned, they burned for two and a half hours. This was not a momentary crime and it cannot be a misdemeanor,” said Irini Maroupa, attorney for the victims’ families, following the verdict.
Statement by Irini Maroupa, lawyer for victims’ relatives in Mati
It is noted that the first-instance court had acquitted 15 of the defendants and found six guilty, imposing redeemable prison sentences ranging from three to five years.
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