Thirteen years since the black anniversary on Stadiou Street, where three people had lost their lives
By Nikos Tsefliou
Against the backdrop of the unspoiled Kastellorizo, Prime Minister George Papandreou announced on April 23, 2010 Greece’s recourse to the support mechanism, putting our country in the midst of memoranda.
It was preceded by the visit of the commissioner for economic and monetary affairs Olli Rehn and the “good courage” at the end of his speech, which prepared for the “tunnel” that Greece would enter in the coming years. On May 2, the first tough austerity measures were announced.
In this climate the unions they give, three days later, an appointment in the center of Athens in the context of the general strike of the GSEE.
Organizers are talking about 150,000 demonstrators in the biggest protest rally in years. The peaceful demonstration ascends the Stadium, but is interrupted in Klathmonos Square, when some escape from the crowd and throw Molotov cocktails at the bookstore “Janus” and in its branch Marfin Bank, at number 23, engulfed in flames. The building is locked, as 24 employees work in the offices.
The smoke is suffocating them, some go upstairs but can’t get to the roof because that door is also locked. Panic ensues.
Some squeeze into small balconies who “see” in the Stadium, anxiously awaiting rescue from the Fire Brigade’s ladder truck. But instead of fire sirens, they hear screams of hate! “Burn!”shout some from the crowd of the march!
Their flames “lick” but they will be saved by the firefighters, who a few hours later complete the rescue operation and extinguish the fire. For three of their colleagues it is too late.
Angeliki Papathanasopoulou, 32 years old, pregnant in the fourth month, Epaminondas Tsakalis, 36 years old, and Paraskevi Zoulia, 35 years old, were recovered dead from suffocation. According to the medical examiner Filippos Koutsaftis, “the smoke and toxic gases from burning the plastics and stationery killed them almost immediately”…
The president of “Marfin” Andreas Vgenopoulos arrives at the scene of the tragedy, who becomes the target of boos and bottles hurled by the crowd.
The prime minister is talking about “brutal murderous action”, while the Federation of Bank Employees’ Organizations of Greece assigns the responsibility “to the practiced policy, to the operational attitude of the Police and also to the managements of the banks, which prevent the participation of the employees in the mobilizations, while with their irresponsibility they do not take all the necessary security measures in time”.
The federation attributes to bank management responsibilities for insufficient fire protection and for the presence of staff in the branch, knowing that banks are often the target of attack. The management of the bank replied to OTOE that “it devoted only three lines against the inhumane murderers and all the rest of the text against the bad employer for alleged lack of security measures”.
In the following days her building “Marfin” it is flooded with candles, notes and flowers left by relatives of the victims, as well as ordinary citizens, in a silent protest. At the same time, the repression in Exarchia intensifies, while the anti-authoritarian space separates its position, publishing a proclamation “against the power of violence” on the Internet.
It takes a year to mobilize Justice.
One week before the first anniversary of the tragedy, at the end of April 2011, reaches the hands of the Police an anonymous letter naming three people as perpetrators of arson.
A case file is being filed against them by the State Security, which includes another name. The investigator takes it into his hands and a year later calls two of them to an apology, 34-year-old Theodoros Sipsa for the arson in “Marfin” and Pavlos Andreev for the attack on “Ianos”. Both are released with restrictive conditions pending their trial.
“I plead not guilty”, Thodoros Sipsas will say in his apology before the Mixed Jury Court of Athens, in October 2016. “I have condemned the attack on the bank. As a man who fights for anti-authority and freedom, I would not allow myself to do this for what I am accused of.” Andreev, for his part, denies any connection with the march of May 5, 2010. “From the first moment I denied the accusation, because I was working at Dionysos that day. Because it was Mother’s Day, I remember 90% of what I did.” Both were unanimously acquitted, as none of the witnesses identified them as perpetrators of the arson. “The police throw the ball at the judicial authorities, to which they turn a blind eye and demand convictions without evidence, in the name of public order and the internal enemy”, will later say lawyer Voula Giannakopoulou, defense attorney for Theodoros Sipsa.
However, for the tragic death of the three employees there were convictions. They concerned the managing director of “Marfin” and the security manager of the building, for negligent homicide, bodily harm and omissions in fire safety measures and staff training. The hearing was told that on the fateful day no order was given by management for the workers to leave, despite fears of serious incidents. In addition, the branch was not properly armored, despite having been attacked in the recent past, and the lack of emergency exits and an escape plan contributed to the loss of the three lives.
Witnesses confirmed, in fact, the conclusion of the inspection of the Ministry of Labor, drawn up in September 2010, for the omissions which led to the tragedy. The responsible inspector Theodosis Pantazopoulos said: “All the workers who were questioned said that no training, information or training had been given and there had never been an evacuation exercise of the building. Only one worker mentioned that there had been a demonstration of the use of fire extinguishers at some point and another that information brochures on fire safety issues had been distributed to the staff, but she did not remember when. In addition, the finding revealed that the branch did not have a fire safety certificate, which is issued by the Fire Brigade, after a study and control of the implementation of the required measures.
The two executives of the bank they were sentenced to 22 years in prison -suspended for 10 years- but they did not go to prison, as the court gave a suspensive nature to their appeal and a monetary guarantee of 30,000 euros.
Their sentence was reduced in the second degree to 8.5 years, also suspended. The manager and deputy manager of the branch they were acquitted.
The civil courts ordered the bank to pay compensation of 1,100,000 euros to the relatives of one victim and 720,000 euros to compensate the 19 employees who were trapped.
On May 9, 2020 the unveiling of an honorary plaque with the names of the three “victims of the blind hatred that divides” took place, in the presence of the President of the Republic Katerina Sakellaropoulou.
Source: Skai
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