Prison Doors Open After Court Denies Leniency to Those Convicted for Deadly Mati Wildfire
The denial of mitigating circumstances for those convicted over the deadly wildfire in Mati, as well as the court’s decision to set the base sentence for negligent homicide at five years, effectively “opened the prison doors.”
With its ruling, the Three-Member Misdemeanor Court of Appeals imposed total sentences ranging from 3 to 340 years (with 5 years to be served).
The following individuals are being sent to prison:
- Sotiris Terzoudis (then Chief of the Fire Department)
- Vasilis Matthaiopoulos (then Deputy Chief)
- Ioannis Fostieris (then Head of the Fire Service Operations Coordination Center)
- Ioannis Kapakis (then Secretary-General for Civil Protection)
Their combined sentence totals 340 years (5 to be served).
“For the four defendants, the sentence is imposed without suspension, without conversion, as they are considered likely to commit further offenses. We will provide further justification in our ruling,” said the presiding judge.
Earlier, the prosecutor stated:
“The sentence for these four defendants should be served in prison and not converted. I recommend this because, to this day, none of them has taken even the slightest responsibility for their actions or the consequences of their omissions toward the citizens they were duty-bound to protect.”
Monetary Penalties for Six Defendants
The court decided to convert the 238-year prison sentence into a fine of €10 per day for the following individuals:
- Christos Golfinos, then director of the “199” emergency line
- Filippos Panteleakos, then director of the Civil Protection Operations Center
- Damianos Papadopoulos, then commander of the Nea Makri Fire Station
- Nikos Panagiotopoulos, then commander of the Athens Fire Services
- Charalampos Chionis, then commander of the Eastern Attica Fire Services
The same sentence conversion was decided for Konstantinos Angelopoulos.
Applause and Reactions
Three of the four convicted individuals (Terzoudis, Matthaiopoulos, and Kapakis) listened to the court’s decision calmly.
Ioannis Fostieris was absent from the courtroom.
“Court adjourned,” was heard in complete silence as the judges left the room.
Audience members shouted as the convicted men were escorted out by guards:
“Let’s see the handcuffs,”
“Say you’re sorry, even now—still no remorse!”
These remarks were followed by applause from the courtroom.
