In the final line to complete the apologies of 21 defendants The process before the three -member Court of Appeal entered the Eye tragedy.

After completing the apologies of the Fire Brigade, with the first of those at that time the body’s leadership, the Single Coordination Center and Staff, as well as the citizen who is given the start of the fire that left behind 104 dead, they will now stand in step. The mayors and deputy mayors of Marathon, Rafina-Pikermi and Penteli, as well as The then regional governor. All of them are sitting again in the dock, following an appeal by the prosecutor against their deed of their exemption.

Today, against judges stood up The then Secretary General of Civil Protection Ioannis Kapakiswho, after expressing condolences for the losses of the July 23, 2018 fire, told the judges that in the context of his laws he had “I think I did what was possible for this incident that has marked me for the whole My life. “

According to the defendant, the General Secretariat of Political Secretariat then “had no staff”. He said that “the law stipulates that municipalities and regions have specific responsibilities. I have no power to replace their work. The actions are practiced not central but decentralized, as they know the special local regime and the conditions to develop their action. “

Reading the entire legislative framework in force in the period in question, Mr. Kapakis denied that he was responsible for the tragedyclaiming that on individual issues, such as purely operational and state management, such as information and organized preventive removal, responsibilities started from the Fire Brigade and resulted in the Local Government, Municipalities and District and the Special Secretariat for Communication. Press and Information “which was responsible for informing citizens”.

Specifically on the issue of organized preventive removal (OPA), the defendant noted that, following the recommendation of the Fire Brigade, the municipality or the Region is responsible for such action, stating that the regional governor had in this case. He also said that “the prosecutor says that I could be the decree body. As it turned out in court, there was no suggestion. The law raises the issue of the introduction as a basic and there is no doubt about the body it decides. Mayor or Regional Governor. The legislator wants such decisions to be made on the field. I am the only one I was not in the field. However, I should have had in addition to the field suggestion and assurances of the on-the-spot bodies that the means they have can implement it. These provided time. The ultimate fire point was 17.30. There was no such request at that time. “

According to the accused, ‘Mr. Matthaiopoulos did not raise us a matter of information necessity. It appears from the case file that the public was briefed by the MS who was responsible for dealing with the fire and knowledge of its evolution.

All the media derives information from the MS. SMS had been sent to accredited journalists from the Press Press Office. They gave two interviews around 10pm. If he thought it was appropriate, he would have made another update. He could have updated door-to-door. It is a decision that burdens the Fire Brigade. She thinks if she will inform about removal or if it will be better not to inform. “

Elsewhere in his apology, Mr. Kapakis questioned the accusation that if the citizens had been informed, the situation would better evolve: “Even today we do not know what really happened. Where did these people leave, how they moved and what would happen if they had moved differently. We do not have an official report on this. The key question: Was there a critical time? From what I have read I have not come to an end if there was the necessary time or if we were going to chaos. The one who ordered you to leave must know that you have the time needed to leave safe.

In cases of destructive management, if there is no organized plan, there is a risk of panic. Especially when there is a multitude of people who need to move in danger conditions.

Even today We do not know if there was the possibility of organized removal on that day. Six years later, we do not have an official answer to this.

Even if they were given a message, there are variables. What was the time they had to move? To self -act? To leave by car? To go to the sea that proved to be unsafe? In which direction should they move? How many were the citizens who should move, we do not even know it today. And people with mobility problems or serious health problems what would they do? “

Referring to the issue of 112, Mr. Kapakis said it was a project that had begun in 2010, with a relative contract with the Information and OTE society, which however stopped for technical reasons (no connection to police and fire department) was not foreseen. And so it was transferred to the funding of the 2016-2020 period.

According to the defendant, the day in question “Even if there were 112, it would have to be door-door updatesirens etc. There are people who do not have their cellphone together, who are at sea. The door-to-door gives you an advantage as citizens are recorded, cases of diseases, respiratory issues, etc. The information is made on the basis of field conditions. “

Concerning the appeal that he is blaming that he did not inform and coordinate local bodies, Mr. Kapakis said:

“That is, I should appreciate the danger of the fire. Every day I appreciate 50 fires … What responsibility did I have? To tell the leader and deputy of the MS what will they do? There is nowhere in the current legislation coordination by me. The responsibility of coordinating stakeholders belongs to the MS. The information and transmission of requests belonged to the KEPP. Nowhere in the world will you find out to be an out -of -field risk assessment. That is to say, where the incident takes place … From the appeal of the prosecutor it seems like I was governing the Fire Brigade. “

President: Finally when the law says that “Secretary General for OPA” what does it mean?

Accused: that it issues all circulars and facilitates based on responsibilities to develop the action.

President: What were the responsibilities of the Secretary -General?

Accused: What we are actually doing is through the laws that govern each body, to define “who, who, when”. But we don’t say how.

The process will continue tomorrow, when the then Mayor of Marathon is expected to apologize.