All defendants were found not guilty by a majority on the charge of manslaughter by omission, either individually or serially
The Three-member Court of Misdemeanors of Larissa decided unanimously the guilt of four defendants in the trial for bad weather “Ianos”which hit Thessaly with a focus on the Karditsa region in September 2020.
In particular, the court imposed a 15-month prison sentence with a three-year suspension on the former governor of Thessaly, Costa Agorastothe former deputy governor of Karditsa, Kostas Noussios and two heads of the Directorate of Technical Projects in the Region of Thessaly and the Regional Unit of Karditsa. The penalty relates to the offense of negligent flooding due to omission, which caused danger to foreign property and human lives.
At the same time, all the defendants were found not guilty by a majority on the charge of manslaughter by omission, either individually or in series.
In addition, the remaining six defendants, among them the mayors of Karditsa and Mouzaki, the president of TOEB Tavropos, two executives of DEYA Karditsa and the head of Civil Protection, were acquitted.
Buyer: In the second degree, justice will vindicate us
Kostas Agorastos expressed his belief that he will be vindicated at the Court of Appeal to the representatives of the media after the decision of the Three-member Misdemeanor Appeal Court of Larisa.
“In my life I have followed the law” Mr. Agorastos initially stated and pointed out the actions he took in 2018, sending a report to the prosecutor of the Supreme Court on the course of the projects while he also emphasized the responsibilities of the Governments for projects that should to be done like that of Acheloos as well as mountain hydrology projects.
He also mentioned the responsibilities of the Forest Service which, as he pointed out, “is not here today” and added in closing that “in the political life of the country there are also expediency trials to satisfy the public feeling or to get some people out of the picture”.
