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Mati Fire Case Returns to Appeal Court as Victims’ Families Say Questions Remain
🇬🇷 Greece /Crime & Justice

Mati Fire Case Returns to Appeal Court as Victims’ Families Say Questions Remain

From Ta Nea · () Greek

Translated from Greek and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources In the courts
  • The appeals court will examine whether three definitively convicted defendants qualify for the mitigating circumstance of a law-abiding life.
  • The Supreme Court accepted their appeals only on that issue, while their convictions over the Mati fire remain final.
  • Relatives of victims and burn survivors say investigative gaps left key matters unresolved, including issues involving burn victims, a mass grave and a woman’s body.

The Mati wildfire case returns to the appeals court on Sept. 16, but the hearing will focus narrowly on whether three convicted defendants should receive the mitigating circumstance of a law-abiding life.

And when an act by a person is not included in the indictment, the court cannot rule on it.

— Association of Relatives of the Dead and Burn Victims of July 23, 2018The association used the statement to criticize what it described as gaps between the investigation and the charges considered by the court.

The defendants are Sotirios Terzoudis, Vasilios Mathaiopoulos and Ioannis Kapakis. Greece’s Supreme Court accepted their appeals only over the rejection of that mitigating factor. Their convictions for the disaster remain final.

The Association of Relatives of the Dead and Burn Victims of July 23, 2018, has strongly objected to the renewed proceedings. It says important questions surrounding the tragedy remain unanswered and argues that errors and omissions occurred from the earliest stages of the investigation.

How can a case truly be considered complete while critical issues that have not yet been judged remain open?

— Association of Relatives of the Dead and Burn Victims of July 23, 2018The association questioned whether the judicial process had fully addressed the fire’s outstanding issues.

The association points to burn survivors who were not included in the first court proceedings. It also raises questions about a mass grave and the body of a woman, saying those matters were not investigated as fully as their seriousness required. The group describes a chain of events in which incomplete investigation led to limited judicial consideration.

Remorse cannot be only a procedural formulation when it is not demonstrated toward the facts and the victims themselves.

— Association of Relatives of the Dead and Burn Victims of July 23, 2018The group argued that the mitigating circumstance should not be considered separately from the defendants’ conduct toward the tragedy.

The relatives and burn survivors say they do not dispute the defendants’ right to seek mitigating circumstances. But they argue that a claim of law-abiding life cannot be examined separately from a person’s overall conduct toward the tragedy. “Remorse cannot be only a procedural formulation when it is not demonstrated toward the facts and the victims themselves,” the association said. Its members plan to attend the hearing and testify again, saying the truth must have another opportunity to be heard.

On Sept. 16, we will be there, to testify again.

— Association of Relatives of the Dead and Burn Victims of July 23, 2018The victims’ relatives and burn survivors said they would attend the hearing.
About this summary

Originally published by Ta Nea in Greek. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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