An Athens court sentenced former Fire Brigade deputy chief Vassilis Mattheopoulos to 30 months with a 3-year suspension on Friday, over charges of unlawful violence and breach of duty when he threatened a fire expert appointed to draft a liability report for the fatal fire in Mati.
Fire inspector Dimitris Liotsios, who was appointed by court to report on the fire that resulted in the death of 104 people in 2018, had been pressured and threatened by Mattheopoulos to change his report.
The former Fire Brigade chief was also fined 1,000 euros. Although he was not present at the court, Mattheopoulos, who is no longer in the Fire Brigade, accepted the charge of unlawful violence and apologized to Liotsios, but rejected the charge of breach of duty. He was among those who were found guilty over the handling of the tragedy recently.
Relatives of the victims of the fire broke out in applause after the decision.
