US EditionGreek Court Jails 4 Officials over Botched Evacuation During Deadly Wildfire Near Athens
- On June 3, 2025, Greece sentenced four high-ranking former officials, including a fire chief and a civil protection director, to prison for their role in the failed evacuation during a deadly 2018 wildfire near Athens.
- The conviction followed a retrial after a senior prosecutor challenged an initial noncustodial verdict related to the July 23, 2018, fire that swept through Mati east of Athens.
- The officials were found guilty of negligence causing loss of life after more than 100 people died in the chaotic evacuation that forced residents to flee by car and into the sea.
- Each convicted official, including a former fire chief and disaster coordination head, received five-year prison sentences for failing to organize an orderly evacuation.
- The ruling closed an 11-month trial involving 21 defendants and highlights growing concerns as Greece faces increasing wildfires linked to climate change effects.
25 Articles
25 Articles
The issue of mitigating circumstances will affect not only the amount of sentences but also the issue of serving them or part of them by reasoned decision of the court.
Associated Press News
Former top Greek fire officials convicted over deadly blaze, victims' relatives angry at acquittals
A court in Athens has convicted a former Fire Service chief and nine others for their roles in managing a 2018 wildfire that killed more than 100 people outside the Greek capital.
Greek Court Delivers Guilty Verdict for 10 Accused in Deadly Mati Fire
The forest fire claimed the lives of 104 people. Credit: Greek Reporter In a verdict delivered by a Three-Member Misdemeanour Court in Greece on Tuesday, eight former senior officers in the fire brigade, including the former fire brigade chief, general secretary for civil protection Ioannis Kapakis, and the man who started the forest fire, were found guilty for the deaths and injuries that resulted from the July 2018 forest fire in Mati. The wil…
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