Rena Dourou for Mati: I am not allowed to rejoice in my final vindication

In an unimaginable tragedy, even though I was demonstrably no longer involved, even though I was unjustly persecuted, my inner core of values does not allow me to rejoice in my final vindication. Because the injustice suffered by the victims and their relatives outweighs the injustice I suffered. As a political person, all the more reason for this morality to override the feeling of even any momentary personal satisfaction.» This is underlined by Rena Dourou, in a statement following today's decision of the Athens Trial Court which unanimously found her not guilty in the case of the Mati tragedy.

«I know that never and nothing, no process can turn back time, heal the wounds, erase the event that deeply marked my life as well. And that is why we must all express our devastation’, notes the MP of SYRIZA-PS and at the time of the tragedy, the regional governor of Attica.

«I was the main target of my political opponents in a national tragedy of enormous proportions, who attempted my political, moral and physical extermination. I was vilified and vilified like no one else», recalls Rena Dourou. «My political opponents have never been able to accept that a young, left-wing woman has carried out, during her term of office, with unprecedented transparency, an enormous task in all areas.

Rena Dourou refers indicatively to just a few of the 1,250 projects with a budget of over 2.7 billion in every corner of Attica, which were launched during her tenure in the region. «All this work in the local communities of Attica, for the establishment of all kinds, had to be a parenthesis that will not be repeated. So they sought at all costs the means to bore, tarnishing my work. And they found it in the tragedy of Matiou,» he says.

«Ignoring the institutional framework, ignoring the facts - more correctly, distorting them - misrepresenting them to the fullest extent with slander, against common sense and international experience, violating even the presumption of innocence, they pointed the finger at me and dragged me through the nation as the person responsible for the tragedy, by setting up televised trials, taking advantage of the pain of our fellow citizens, »he continues, while referring to the interview he gave days after the tragedy, in which he pointed out that those who have a position of responsibility should not consider that they were wrong in their shift, so they should bend down to see that such a disaster will not happen again. «So while the grammatical and substantive wording is that this is a national tragedy, they twisted the meaning, distorted the phrase, cut and pasted and tried to portray me as insensitive, callous for reducing tragedy to something simple and ordinary,» he stressed.

Rena Dourou expresses her firm belief that it is not appropriate for politicians to fortify themselves behind parliamentary immunities. «The whole criminal procedure is sacred for all parties who want to find justice, but it is still a soul-sapping process. I endured it without heavy-handedness, without shouting and screaming about “political persecution”, with patience and patience, fully respecting the rules of the rule of law,» he says.

«I do not ask for an apology from those, the moral perpetrators of my persecution, who, trampling on every presumption of innocence, pointed their fingers at me as guilty and even called for my physical extermination. Whether and how they will react now is their own affair and they will be judged, as we all are, by the citizens. What I cannot forgive them for is that my mother recently passed away in grief that her daughter was vilified in the nation as the perpetrator of the tragedy,» he points out.

Finally, she expresses her thanks to all those who supported her in this difficult ordeal. «To the many people who believed in me, supported me with love and supported me from the first moment, apart from the huge thanks I owe them, I want to assure them that the unjust blows not only did not break me, on the contrary, they steeled me so that I continue to fight to make our country the country we deserve,» she concludes.

The full statement of Rena Dourou

«Today the court unanimously found me innocent of the tragedy at Mati. It should be noted that it was preceded by an acquittal proposal of the Prosecutor and an acquittal decision of the Disciplinary Council for elected officials, which consists of Supreme and Senior Judges, that is, all the Judges who judged me at the disciplinary and criminal level unanimously acquitted me.

In an unimaginable tragedy, even though I was demonstrably no longer involved, even though I was unjustly persecuted, my inner core of values does not allow me to rejoice in my final vindication. Because the injustice suffered by the victims and their relatives outweighs the injustice suffered by me. As a political person, all the more reason for this morality to override the feeling of even any momentary personal satisfaction.

I know that nothing, no process can ever turn back the clock, heal the wounds, erase the event that has deeply marked my life as well. And that is why we must all express our devastation.

I was the main target of my political opponents in an enormous national tragedy, who attempted my political, moral and physical extermination. I was vilified and vilified like no one else.

My political opponents have never been able to accept that a young, left-wing woman has, during her term of office, carried out a huge amount of work in all areas with unprecedented transparency.

1,250 projects with a budget of over 2.7 billion were scheduled in every corner of Attica. Typically, I mention the redevelopment of the Falirikos bay, which has remained as we delivered it ever since, the Aegina water supply pipeline, the “electricity for all” action (during the period of memorandum restrictions), the first ever support of the NHS with equipment for the public hospitals of Attica, which proved to be of critical importance when the time came to deal with the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as the recruitment in the health centres and many other things which even today our political opponents conceal that they were implemented by the Administration of the Life Force in the Region of Attica.

All this work in the local communities of Attica, for the establishment of all kinds, had to be a parenthesis that will not be repeated. So they sought at all costs to find a means to bore me, by tarnishing my work. And they found it in the tragedy of Matyu.

Ignoring the institutional framework, ignoring the facts - more correctly, distorting them - misrepresenting them to the fullest extent with slander, against common sense and international experience, violating even the presumption of innocence, they pointed the finger at me and spread me all over the country as the person responsible for the tragedy, setting up televised trials, exploiting the suffering of our fellow citizens.

Characteristic of the vulgarity and distortion is the fact that days after the national tragedy I gave an interview in which I pointed out that those who are in a position of responsibility should not consider that they were wrong on their watch, so they should bend down to see that such a disaster will not happen again.

So while the grammatical and essential wording is that it is a national tragedy, they distorted the meaning, they distorted the phrase, they cut and pasted and tried to make me appear insensitive, callous for reducing tragedy to something simple and ordinary.

This is despite the fact that they knew very well that common sense, international experience and the institutional framework stipulate that the Fire Brigade has the absolute authority to extinguish forest fires and rescue citizens. That the elected Region (second degree of the local authority) had and has a purely supporting role and even with responsibilities that it does not exercise of its own accord but only if and when requested by the Fire Brigade. Despite the fact that, as the Region of Attica, we have fulfilled our role and performed everything that the Fire Brigade has asked us to do, there has been a huge communication effort to manipulate the “public sense of justice” in order to be seen as guilty.

I firmly believe that in order to safeguard the credibility of our political system, in the event that we or the institution of which we are the political superiors are involved, even if only subtly, in a case that is harmful to the citizens and even the slightest shadows of guilt are created, it is a one-way street for the natural judges to be seized. If they find that we are innocent, we are to render a whitewash to society; if we are guilty, we are to be punished like all citizens.

Therefore, fortifying behind parliamentary immunities is not appropriate for politicians who want to act with dignity and respect for citizens. The whole criminal procedure is sacred for all parties who want to find justice, but it is still soul-destroying. I endured it without being heavy-handed, without shouting and screaming about “political persecution”, with patience and patience, fully respecting the rules of the rule of law.

I do not ask for an apology from those, the moral perpetrators of my persecution, who, trampling on every presumption of innocence, pointed the finger of guilt at me and even called for my physical extermination. Whether and how they will react now is their own affair and they will be judged, as we all are, by the citizens. What I cannot forgive them for is that my mother recently passed away in grief that her daughter was vilified nationally as the perpetrator of the tragedy.

To the many people who believed in me, supported me with love and stood by me from the very first moment, apart from the huge thanks I owe them, I want to assure them that the unjust blows not only did not break me, on the contrary, they steeled me so that I continue to fight to make our country the country we deserve».