With one “apologies to the state machinery over time, which could not stop this tragedy» began his testimony in the trial for the fatal fire in Mati, in July 2018, the then Minister of Citizen Protection Nikos Toskas.

The former minister, who in previous meetings was heard to have given orders to manage the events of that day, testified that he himself never gave an order on how the available means should be allocated and that he did not indicate anything to the head of the ESKE (Unified Coordination Center of Business), who had full oversight of the situation. He also said that the day of the fire in Mati, which came after a big fire in Kinetta, was difficult because of the weather, while the overall conditions were unfavorable because of the country’s fiscal situation.

At the same time, he spoke in “urban planning issues” while he expressed the opinion that the state apparatus moved quickly after the hundred dead on many issues, such as the identification of bodies, adding “see what’s happening in Hawaii».

The former minister received a barrage of questions on the issue of the helicopter that was ordered, while the fire in Mati was becoming extremely dangerous, to go to the Corinth refineries, a matter of which the opinion has been expressed in the trial that it was an unnecessary move that aggravated the fire in Eastern Attica.

At the beginning of his testimony, Mr. Toskas said:I would like, before we get into the nitty-gritty and actual events of that day, to express my sadness and my apologies to the state machinery over time, which could not stop this tragedy. There were extremely unfavorable conditions both weather-wise and financially – there was a lack of means – there were urban planning issues».

The witness testified that in 2015 “we received a very difficult situation financially and in terms of means. One of my first actions when I took over in 2015 was to activate the Chinook helicopters and put them to use in firefighting, which had 10 years of service. The firefighters had no hoses. We could not rent fire extinguishers»

According to his testimony, Mr. Toskas went to the Coordination Office at noon on July 23, 2018, when he was informed about the fire in Kinetta: “The weather was initially around 5-6 Beaufort as predicted by the weather report and suddenly they couldn’t fly planes. We had two fires in Attica, at two ends of it. We had strong westerly winds and there was tremendous difficulty for aerial vehicles. At 16:41 the Fire Department was informed and then they informed me about the fire in Mati. I did not give operational orders, only some prompts like “move the means where there is a greater need”».

-President: Were you saying where the funds should go?

-Witness: No. Priorities were entering.

-President: Who was determining the priority?

-Witness: The operational one is the commander of ESKE, but some priorities are set by the political leadership. I was there if needed to contact other ministries, but also to give them courage. I didn’t and couldn’t make any suggestions on which media will go where. Mr. Fostieris (head of ESKE) informed me about what was available at that time and where it will go. I didn’t know. I had said that “you will not take orders from anyone, and if you do, say a member of parliament, a journalist, you will refer him to me. If someone told them “send a medium here” and they couldn’t handle it I told them to refer it to me to handle the situation.

Regarding the issue of the helicopter and the order to divert it to the refineries in Corinth, the former minister said: “Matthaiopoulos (then deputy fire chief) and Fostieris were saying where the vehicles would go… I found out the next day and I was angry, because I had given mandate, as I said, to refer to me if they get business pressure. Of course, if you ask me if they did well with the diversion, I don’t know because it’s an operational issue.”

– President: Who gave the approval for these things?

-Witness: I wasn’t in the coordinator’s office, I was next door. I came in a few times to see how things were going.

-President: From whom did you learn about Motor Oil?

-Witness: The next day, but I don’t remember from whom.

– President: Did you consider it an intervention?

-Witness: I don’t know if the operational criteria were correct. I don’t think they were pressured. They found themselves in a situation.

-President: Would they have done it anyway or were they pressured by a businessman in the country? Since you had told them this, why didn’t they tell you? There is a question as to whether there was an unfair abuse. If a businessman asked for something and that was at the expense of citizens.

-Witness: I don’t know why they didn’t tell me. I don’t know if it was for reasons of haste. The minister is not informed about all issues, only the important ones.

-President: Wasn’t it important?

-Witness: If we put the possibility of a refinery fire with a fire that had not yet developed like that, I don’t know what their criterion was. Ask them…

To the questions of the prosecutor of the headquarters about the diversion of the helicopter, the witness said that the next day, when, as he said, he found out about the helicopter, he resigned. The witness reiterated that he was not aware of any intervention made by the businessman for the refineries and emphasized that the matter “is operational and not political” and pointed out: “There was a situation where many problems had to be solved, the main one being the unpleasant task of identifying the corpses. Not to brag, but it was resolved quickly. Look at what’s happening in Hawaii…”. This phrase of his caused the reaction of a citizen from the audience who shouted at him “Ten days you did!”.

-Prosecutor: On 7/27/2018 you said at a press conference: “I don’t see any serious business mistakes”…

-Witness: The title is what you say, but if you read further down I said other things. Are you after 5 years trying to find the mistakes and I would see them the next day? There are strategic mistakes, operational mistakes and tactical mistakes. I didn’t use the word business.

-Prosecutor: You say you did not give operational orders, but there are recorded conversations that say “to request the minister’s permission”.

-Witness: For other fires, for Kalamos. I had told them to set priorities, not to scatter the means everywhere.

– Prosecutor: Mr. Terzoudis says that you gave orders to Fostieris, is he lying?

-Witness: He says inaccuracies. Fostieris, but also Terzoudis kept me informed.

– Prosecutor: Is it legal for the minister to intervene?

-Witness: If you had soldiers here instead of firefighters they would have rioted. There is both coverage and differentiation. If I said don’t scatter the contents of the Reed in small fires and send to the big ones is it good or bad?

When asked by the victims to state what he considers to be the political responsibility and the political responsible, Mr. Toskas replied: “I had the political responsibility but I am not an accused and that has been decided.”

– Defense Counsel for the Class: Why didn’t you ask the Parliament to be judged by the Court?

-Witness: I think the issue is being politicized. I am and have been at the disposal of Justice and from then on I have nothing to say.

-Class Support Counsel: Are you repeating today that you wouldn’t have done anything differently?

-Witness: I resigned because I have learned from the army and my conscience dictates that you are not to blame, if something happens, you resign.

The former minister’s testimony will continue tomorrow.