The case for the death of an 11-year-old student and the injury of two more children, in the courtyard of a primary school in Serres, following a boiler explosion, which occurred in December 2022, during the execution of work on the energy upgrade of the school’s heating system, is being heard by the Three-member Criminal Appeal Court of Thessaloniki.

11 people are accused in the case who were initially referred to be tried for misdemeanor acts at the Three-member Misdemeanor Court of Serres. After the end of the evidentiary process, however, the court of Serres – accepting the proposal of the district attorney – decided that it was incompetent, requesting the upgrade of the indictment for eight of the eleven persons involved.

Under these circumstances, he decided to refer the case to the Three-member Court of Criminal Appeals of Thessaloniki for violation of building regulations that resulted in death, an act prosecuted as a felony. The chief engineer of the construction site, the head of the electrical work workshop and six employees of the Technical Services Department of the Municipality of Serres are facing this charge.

The remaining three defendants, namely the then director of the primary school, the then director of Serres Primary Education and the then coordinator of the educational project, are being prosecuted for misdemeanors, but will be judged by the same court, due to the relevance of the case.

The eight defendants facing the felony appealed against the decision of the Serres Misdemeanor Court, filing an appeal, which was examined and rejected by the Three-member Misdemeanor Appeal Court of Thessaloniki. A series of other legal issues that they raised through their lawyers had the same fate. Following these – and since the defendants do not use any other legal means – the case is referred to the Criminal Court.