The time of the final court judgment for the 21 defendants in the case of the deadly floods in Mandra Attica, in 2017, which claimed the lives of 21 people, has arrived. Today, after a lengthy hearing, the Athens' Second Trial Court announces its decision on those involved in the case - including former Attica regional governor Rena Dourou and while the hearing was preceded last March by the prosecutor's proposal.
Specifically, in her proposal, the prosecutor had requested that the former Attica regional governor
be declared guilty of three misdemeanor offences and specifically for causing a flood by omission, manslaughter by negligence by omission and bodily injury by negligence by omission. On the contrary, the prosecutor asked for Mrs Dourou to be acquitted of the misdemeanour of breach of duty .
In total, during her deliberations, the prosecutor proposed that 20 of the 21 defendants in the case be declared guilty. For them, she asked that they be convicted on a case-by-case basis of manslaughter and bodily injury by negligence, and flooding by negligence. In contrast, the prosecutor recommended acquittal for 17 people for the offence of breach of duty, except for the head of urban planning of Elefsina and his two subordinates. The prosecutor had also asked for the full acquittal of one of the defendants, an employee of the stream policing committee, as she was on leave.
Apologizing to the court Dourou had said that she assumes political responsibility for the case, but this, as she had said, does not mean that there is also criminal responsibility. "One should not sacrifice oneself like Iphigenia," the accused former Attica regional governor had said and had expressed her regret for the loss of human lives. She even referred to the phenomenon of climate change, but not as an alibi, as she explained. "What happened in Mandra is completely related to the phenomenon of the climate crisis." Lekkas testified that the flooding in Mandra marked the beginning of the climate crisis in our country and also the beginning of extreme phenomena in our country. I do not want to use the climate crisis as an alibi", the defendant had pointed out.
Addressing the judges, she had even stressed the following in her apology: "I feel that I stand before you for responsibilities that do not belong to me. I understand that there are responsibilities in such a case, but not to sacrifice someone like another Iphigenia. I feel the need to tell you that this natural disaster in Mandra was an obvious catastrophe that shocked us all. But I stand here in the dock today - with respect to the institution of justice but I stand before you with accusations that I feel do not concern me. I understand that there must be responsibilities in such a case...."."
Source: protothema.gr
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