“No apology is enough because nothing and nothing can ever make up for the lives of the victims” were her first words Renas Douros when sitting on the podium she began her apology for her tragedy in Mati.

“I would like to say right from the start that I know that no apology is enough, nothing can ever make up for the losses and bring back lives and erase the event that marked my own life. We as a society need to express our heartbreak. Apology is due in every case, even if the causes are for some due to objective circumstances.

This apology is independent of any feeling of bitterness for an unjust accusation. What matters is the injustice suffered by others, not us.”

The then regional governor of Attica chose in the first part of her apology and after expressing her heartbreak for the loss of so many lives, to describe the way she became after the tragedy “scapegoat” by political opponents who, as she said, targeted her immediately. “You will allow me to refer to the atmosphere that was created at that time. I think it should be said because it explains how we got to my prosecution. It started with a well-known political game, which, given that the prefect had been convicted for the fire in Ilia, found him guilty of the Eye…” said Mrs. Dourou, who mentioned that as part of this tactic “I was slandered, slandered, threatened” .

“From the very next day, the opposition press was calling me a murderer. I don’t want to elaborate because that’s not what the Trial is about, but let me say one thing. Several days later, I gave an interview to the “Editors’ Journal”, I was not saying that everything went well, as it was said.. I was saying that those in a position of responsibility should not consider that it was their shift that went wrong, but work to change the condition… So while the wording was that, they twisted the meaning, took the phrase fragmentarily and tried to say that I am unconscious… that I am painless… And then I preferred silence out of respect for the victims. I’d rather be found guilty than disrespectful on telefights. I was saying that I will defend myself when the time comes. That is, here” said Rena Dourou.

According to the defendant, the Fire Department, through its staff members who are on trial, confessed to the court that it was unable to deal with two major incidents. “We have a confession from the representatives of the Fire Department that it did not have the means to respond to the two incidents. Imagine if we had a third one at the refineries… We learned this weakness in a tragic way, and in fact we learned it this last month,” said Mrs. Dourou, referring to the previous apologies.

The former regional governor, beginning her answers to the charge, emphasized that she applied “and above all what is provided for by the institutional framework which had changed after the fire in Ilia”, adding that she had absolute responsibility for the management of the fire and the rescue of citizens fire Department.

Mrs. Dourou will continue her testimony on Friday

Earlier, the then general secretary of Civil Protection was on the stage Giannis Kapakis who said that on the day in question and since the fire in Eastern Attica was developing very unfavorably and there was also the front in Kinetta, at 9:30 in the evening he called the central coordinating body. “We, however, without knowing what has been done in the field, called the Central Coordinating Body of Civil Protection. Mr. Matthaiopoulos informed us about what is happening on the front lines of the fires, the Police and other involved bodies spoke to us. There I learned that there is a possibility of dead people. Later, leaving the meeting, at 11:00, we learned that the situation was much worse than they have reported,” explained Mr. Kapakis.

The former head of Civil Protection, after saying in his apology that he had no authority over the organized removal, he expressed the opinion that “if it had been done, we might have had a much greater death toll. I say this from my experience of 30 years in the Fire Department. Neither information could be given, nor an organized removal. I can’t even imagine the nightmare scenario of how 5,000 people would go to sea in an intensity of heat radiation. And people were in danger in the sea.”

The defendant also referred to the part of the accusation he is facing regarding the failure to declare, in time, Western and Eastern Attica in a state of emergency, leaving spikes for his co-accused and former regional governor of Attica, Rena Dourou, that she hastened to announce it without having does. “I spoke with Mrs. Dourou at 20:40 and told her that the areas will be put in a state of emergency. At 20:49 he made a tweet saying that Western and Eastern Attica are in a state of emergency. How did this happen since it didn’t have my consent? There were a lot of publications that reproduced the sermon, which in the end he didn’t preach but otherwise I was the one who didn’t. If the state of emergency is so important why at nine instead of twenty? Why didn’t it happen in Kineta? Was there no need? All this had value in order to make clear the body that would decide on the organized removal”.

At the start of today’s trial, Charalambos Syrogiannis, former deputy commander of ELAS air means, apologized, who said that on the day in question he did not receive a request to dispose of the only helicopter that was in operation. The accused said that even if he had been asked he would not have given permission as the weather conditions were dangerous for the safety of the operators.