Residents and relatives of the 102 victims ask “why?” – Gathering and invitation of the dead in the afternoon
“With a WHY that wanders like a bee in our hearts, souls and lips, we will be together for the third year in the port to shout the names of those who are missing. To hear that we do not forget them. How we are here and we will do our duty “. With these words, Mrs. Katerina Mala, a resident of the area, summarizes in a post on Facebook the context and content of this year's anniversary of the tragedy in Mati. “OUR WHY is not general and vague. He does not ask for someone to hit him on the back.
Our WHY is specific and relentless “he emphasizes and adds:
WHY no attempt was made to remove the citizens from the settlements.
WHY no effort was made, at least, to mobilize people to act on their own to protect themselves.
WHY no siren was heard.
WHY the Leader asks for the data to be buried.
WHY the air coordinator comes to the area and after a telephone conversation with the Chief of Operations leaves.
BECAUSE the center orders the helicopter that has just arrived to leave, for “another event”.
BECAUSE those who contributed to the disaster were rewarded.
Three years later, the residents of the area and the relatives of the victims do not forget and demand answers. To justify those who were lost and those who were left behind. They will meet once again in the afternoon at the memorial event, holding each other's hands and joining their voices to shed light on the inconceivable tragedy that left behind 103 dead and more than 30 burn victims.
Justice has the floor…
Some answers are given by the investigation of Justice. The case, after the completion of the main investigation, which lasted almost two years, is in the hands of the prosecutor, who is studying it and, according to the request of the investigator, will refer it to the judicial council.
The Athens Council for Criminal Procedure will judge charges, whether they are crimes or misdemeanors , as Mr. Marneris, the investigator of the case, insists on the offense of the deadly serial report and the report from which the victims were caused serious bodily injuries (s.s. .burned) in a row. That is, he insists and follows up on his three demands that the indictment be upgraded with crimes.
Power Games in the Fire Brigade…
In his transmission letter to the Prosecutor of the Athens Court of First Instance, Mr. Marneris describes a Fire Brigade where games of power are played: the Deputy Chief and senior officers do not inform or mislead the Chief when officers in the field turn their backs on the flames!
To protect their gallons and their future development, according to the investigator. He describes a Fire Brigade where the generals receive operational orders from the (then) Minister of Public Order (s.s. Nikos Toska) and do not discuss the existence of the dead with the Prime Minister, although they have known since the afternoon.
So the “WHY” of the residents become more specific for each of the accused. Most importantly, though, why did senior officers refuse to go to the front of the fire? Why did they never order a precautionary evacuation, as they had done a few hours earlier in Kineta? Why did the air coordinator leave his post? Why was it not replaced immediately? Why were not all available aerial means used? Why was no rescue operation done on land and at sea immediately?
Catapult the Investigator's finding…
According to the investigator of the case, the attitude of the firefighters and the officials of the Region and the Civil Protection “shows that they did not give any importance to the fire and left it to take uncontrollable dimensions, while being completely indifferent to the evacuation of the citizens”. In fact, he accuses certain officers that “seeing the danger of the fire, they consciously chose to violate their official duties and not to participate in the work of extinguishing the evacuation and the subsequent rescue of the citizens”.
In fact, he points out that “the evacuation of the citizens was possible if it was done in time and according to plan (as was done in the case of Kineta)” and mentions the cover-up efforts that followed: “Then some of those in charge did not hesitate to try to cover up the reality, turning against the expert Dimitrios Liotsios, who of course we have to point out, ignored all the interventions and duly executed the task assigned to him “.
We remind you that the judicial investigation of the case of the threats and the exhortations of the former Chief of the Fire Brigade to the expert to bury the case is in progress. Justice has already ruled on the use of the recorded conversation as a valid part of the relevant case file.
source: first issue
