Inquiries into deadly Mati fire freeze

In the morning, the prosecutor Elias Zagoraios was handed the conclusion of the independent fire inspector, which he had appointed to identify the responsibilities and omissions of the competent state bodies. The findings arrived, but together came a document from the Supreme Court Prosecutor.

Mrs. Demetriou  requested the inclusion in the voluminous case file of the results of the public administration auditors, following the mandate given earlier, by the General Director of Public Administration, Mr. María Papaspyrou, for administrative control, in order to determine whether there are disciplinary responsibilities.

Consequently, the call of suspects is delayed, unknown until when, if one counts that in the same flood survey in Mandra, the auditor's findings took about 8 months before being handed over to the prosecutors.

At the same time, Mr. Zagoraios, who was in charge of the investigation, is leaving the position of Head of the Prosecutor's Office as he has been promoted, but his term expired, leaving two prosecutors behind to continue the investigation.

However, the mandate to carry out the administrative control of all the stakeholders was given by the General Inspector of Public Administration on 6 September. The survey will be carried out by a joint inspectorate in order to verify compliance with the legality and the procedures foreseen at the administrative level.

According to the expert, however, while there are extensive reports on the causes and how the competent bodies should react, there are no "personalized" responsibilities.

Finally, in the context of the other case file that had been opened on the occasion of the allegations that an attempt was made to "change" critical elements at the time the fire broke out, the Prosecutor's Office has already called for explanations from Firefighting executives.

ND reacted to the development in a strong way, denouncing the government.

"The news that the ongoing judicial inquiry into the national tragedy in Mati is freezing is inconceivable, and the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Ms Xenia Dimitriou bears the full responsibility for this development," the main opposition said, adding: "Demetriou has made a scandalous interference with the independence of the prosecutors in charge of conducting the preliminary examination. "