Race against time for Mati fire trial

With the risk of the statute of limitations for any responsibility linked to the deadly fire in 2018 in Mati in East Attica being real and imminent, the justice system is expediting judicial procedures so that those who were brought to trial for the tragedy do not go completely unpunished. 

After the appeal against the first degree decision, which had stirred up a storm of reactions among the relatives of the victims and the dozens of people who suffered burns, the Athens Appeals Prosecutor's Office set the trial in the second degree at the Appeals Court for July 8, so as to avoid - if it's not too late - the statute of limitations regarding any responsibility for the tragedy.

This is because the statute of limitations will expire for all those on trial in July 2026, and by then the judiciary must not only have completed the trial in the second instance (Court of...