Appeal against the only decision to date in which administrative justice has awarded compensation to relatives of murder victims fire in the eyes initiated by the State, prompting a second judicial review by the Court of Appeal.

The appeal, filed a few days ago, is based on sensational grounds concerning an unprecedented tragedy for the Greek annals of peacetime.

According to the information, the State’s appeal is based on six grounds, legal and factual, among which is that the fatal fire was a “force majeure event”, meaning it could not be dealt with.

He speaks of “a sudden change in the weather.”

In particular, the state’s appeal states that the court that awarded the compensation should have appointed an expert opinion to clarify certain issues, referring to the “dramatic change in the weather”, “the rarity and specificity of such a rapid increase in wind strength at the local level”, in while he goes so far as to state that “there was an objective impossibility to control the aircraft during the afternoon hours of the accident due to the weather.”

At the same time, the appeal states that the failure of the fire department’s recommendation to evacuate the area did not result in a death toll, and also claims that “extraordinary prudence” measures were taken and that “The fire department was not inactive during the performance of its duties, but, on the contrary, immediately mobilized all available forces to fight the fire. However, given the huge number of simultaneous fires that occurred in various places in the disputed territory, and because of the speed of air and ground transportation of hot people, it was not possible to objectively deal with all incidents … “.

Also, the state appeal indicated that the 112 system was not implemented at that time, that the roads in and around the settlements were labyrinthine, unpaved and with dead ends, and that the fire spread at a high speed. and the wind was blowing at 10 and 11 on the Beaufort scale.

Solution

The decision, subject to the State’s appeal, concerns compensation in the amount of 300,000 euros, which was awarded to five relatives of a 77-year-old woman who died in a fatal fire. The decision is numbered 17030, dated 2022, and dozens of such claims for damages are pending in administrative courts.

According to the decree that rehabilitated the relatives of a 77-year-old woman who died, the responsibility of the state in connection with the inaction of the competent authorities is recognized as immediate, while it is noted that the responsibility of the fire service is provided for refusing to recommend the evacuation of the territory to the competent authorities of the municipality and region.

At the same time, he rejected the state’s claim in court, which caused a sensation, that the victim herself was responsible for her tragic death, since the state’s petition noted that “due to the actions of the deceased herself, leave voluntarily, on foot, from her home, which, in the end, remained unharmed by the fire, so that if she had remained there, she would have been safe” (!)

New prosecution investigation

At the same time, a new prosecutorial investigation into the case of the deadly fire in Mati is underway, as the prosecutor of the seat of the Three-member Criminal Court of Athens, Panagiotis Maniatis, sent to the prosecutor’s office of first instance a list of burnt victims who did not testify to the judicial authorities and did not appear in court.

A preliminary examination was immediately scheduled and, according to information, the victims were called to testify. After the testimony is completed, the “suspects” will be summoned and criminal responsibility will be imposed by the prosecutor’s office.