In the summer of 2017, Kythira was engulfed in flames for three days. Three years later (July 2020), the Stratos Charhalakis, Mayor of Kythira submitted statement of claim against any responsible party at the Piraeus First Instance Prosecutor’s Office. It requested that the operational decisions of the Fire Department and link the folder to the audio which were reported at the time by *Kathimerini* and concerned the (failure to) dispatch sufficient aerial firefighting resources to Kythira. The case received extensive media coverage. Since then, silence…

In August 2025, just four days after the fire that burned down the same area on Kythira (28,000 stremmata), the mayor brought the issue back into the public eye with a post saying, among other things: «The lawsuit went unclaimed» and «I was never summoned by the investigating magistrate.».

Based on the information it has gathered to date, Kythera.News poses the question directly: Where is the file containing the mayor’s criminal complaint? Who decided (and why) that the case should never go to trial?;

1) What we officially know

Filing of a Lawsuit (July 2020): The Mayor of Kythira filed a criminal complaint with the Piraeus First Instance Prosecutor’s Office «against all those responsible» for the 2017 fire, with an explicit request to link the case file to the audio for the Eye and back then news reports about Kythira. The news was published in leading media outlets, while the iEfimerida.gr posted the full text of the complaint.
Review of Applications (July 2020): Following the audio recordings regarding Mati, the public prosecutors’ offices in Piraeus and Kalamata announced Review of the case files for Kythira and Mani. As he stated at the time in a post on his personal Facebook account The mayor of Kythira was prepared to exhaust every legal means to hold those responsible to account.
What did the lawsuit allege: On the morning of Saturday, August 5, 2017 The aircraft were withdrawn while there was a strong thermal and strong winds, leading to resurgence while there was chaos in coordination as well (The S.T.O. was not formed in a timely manner; reference is made to S.T.O. minutes and statements by municipal officials). According to the «revelatory» conversations (Kathimerini Sunday edition, July 19, 2020) and statements by Fire Service officials, there are indications of deliberate maneuvers in the management of aerial resources (including their redeployment elsewhere), resulting in catastrophic flare-ups.

Public complaints by officers: The then-deputy operations chief, Yiannis Vassiliadis, stated that in Kythira and Mani, he was «deprived of aerial resources» and that they had been «taken away from him» while he was on the job, pointing to then-Chief Vasilis Kapelios. Mr. Vasilis Kapelios subsequently accused Mr. Yiannis Vassiliadis of defamation, claiming that he had abandoned the fire in Mani without orders, taking the radio with him and leaving the forces without coordination. He also emphasized that the claims that «he left them without air support» were false and intended to portray him as «Nero.».

2) The audio clips that opened the folder

In 2020, the Sunday newspaper released recorded conversations in which the then-head of the Fire Service, V. Matthaiopoulos, is reported to have asked that «evidence be concealed» regarding Mati. The same article mentions Kythira:

«To get rid of Vassiliadis, Kapelios left him on Kythira without any air support.».

These reports constituted basis of the criminal complaint from the Mayor of Kythira.

3) What exactly are the allegations regarding Kythira (2017)?

Timeline of the crisis (based on the lawsuit and media reports):

Aug. 4, 2017: Fire incident.
August 5, 2017, in the morning: There is no active major front, but there is a strong thermal front and strong winds. The drones are being withdrawn – Clashes are breaking out.
Aug. 5–6, 2017: Urgent requests from the municipality and residents regarding continuous aerial firefighting and correct coordination.

Additional information:

References to S.T.O. minutes, letters from the mayor to political leaders, and statements by officials.

4) The legal reality behind the phrase «it went unclaimed»

In his post on August 1, 2025, the mayor writes that «The lawsuit I filed was dismissed for lack of action»and that" was never invited from the preliminary investigation. This wording is politically eloquent, however legal means something very specific:

Every complaint is registered and acquires case number.
The fact that the complainant was not summoned does not mean that the complaint has «gone missing.» It may still be under investigation even though no witnesses have been summoned, it may have been shelved without receiving any publicity, it may have been transferred to another prosecutor and put on hold, and now, after so much time has passed, it may be at risk of becoming time-barred.

Simply put: The file exists — the question is What happened procedurally?.

5) «Where’s the lawsuit?» – Questions That Demand Answers

Many questions remain unanswered regarding the lawsuit over the Kythira fire: What is the case number, and what stage is the case currently at? Were the 2020 guidelines for a review implemented, and with what results? Was the comparison with the audio recordings from Mati requested by the mayor carried out? Was there a prosecutor’s order to lift confidentiality and release critical evidence, such as flight logs and radio communications? Which officer signed the order to withdraw the aerial assets on the morning of that Saturday in 2017? Why wasn’t a coordination body established in a timely manner? And finally, when the mayor states that the case «was shelved,» does he mean that it was filed away and that there is a written response regarding this?;

6) Why was the case «swept under the rug» in the media?

Unlike Mati (where there was media coverage, a trial, and political controversy), Kythira there were no casualties – and thus less political cost. In 2020, the prosecutors« »re-examinations” raised expectations, but with no visible follow-up, the case disappeared from the radar.

The evidence from 2017–2020 (testimonies, minutes, news reports, audio recordings, and statements by officials) points to certain conclusions: incorrect operational decisions were made and Critical aerial firefighting resources were withdrawn at a time that proved to be critical for the spread of the fire. The Justice System was supposed to to explain whether this was simply incompetence or criminal negligence motivated by political expediency.

Five years after the lawsuit was filed, the people of Kythira deserve a clear answer to the fundamental question:

Where is the lawsuit?;

In which office is it located, who is handling it, what actions have been taken, and what decision has been made?;

The simplest thing the Mayor of Kythira can do is ask his attorneys, Mr. Petros Kasimatis and Mr. Antonis Semitekolos, who handled the case, to check the case file number to see what stage it is at. The process is simple—it can even be done online—and provides a clear picture. They can also contact the prosecutor’s office where the case is pending.

And here’s another crucial question that has already been raised in the public debate: Was the case quietly swept under the rug because it involves Vasilis Kapelios, former chief of the Fire Department and later deputy regional governor of the Peloponnese under Nika? Did his political identity and his status as a «blue» (New Democracy) official act as a deterrent to the investigation’s progress? And if that is indeed the case, who had an interest in keeping a case that ravaged Kythira and Mani shrouded in darkness? These are questions that remain to be answered—if answers are ever provided.

Without transparency and accountability, the Kythira case (like so many others…) remains warning on how a culture of impunity is created: How critical questions are swept under the rug and case files disappear «unclaimed.» And let us hope that the same thing does not happen again with the 2025 fire. Because in the end, our justice system and our democracy risk being left «unclaimed.».

Kythera.News

Related Sources

The Criminal Complaint

The Complaint Form text

“BEFORE THE PROSECUTOR OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF PIRAEUS

COMPLAINT FORM

The first-level local government entity operating under the name “MUNICIPALITY OF KYTHIRA,” legally represented by its mayor, Efstratios Charhalakis.
AGAINST
To the person in charge.

“Honorable Prosecutor,

In the revealing recorded conversations recently published in the July 19, 2020, issue of the newspaper “KATHIMERINI TIS KYRIAKIS” and concerning the conversation between the Fire Department’s appointed expert on the Mati, Attica, fire case, Mr. Dimitrios Liotsios, and the former chief of the Fire Department, Mr. Vasilios Matthaiopoulos. Among other things, there is a direct reference to illegal tactics (“games”) that suggest a “settling of scores” among high-ranking fire department officers, in clear violation of the duties entrusted to them and in direct contravention of prohibitive criminal and civil provisions.

Referring to these tactics, the former Chief of the Fire Department, Mr. Matthaiopoulos, provides a revealing account of what happened from the perspective of those responsible for managing and coordinating the firefighting efforts, in the case of the Kythira fire in August 2017—a fact that confirms the picture of a complete lack of coordination, “erroneous assessments,” and, of course, the absence of adequate aerial resources, as documented in the relevant news reports from those critical days, when the fire was raging, although, of course, at that time no one could have understood the reasons that led to that specific situation.

In light of these developments and the reinvestigation of the case, we believe it is crucial to bring the following information to your attention.

A. A BRIEF HISTORY.

The Municipality of Kythira is home to a Fire Station (FPU), the operation of which the Municipality of Kythira has undertaken for many years, paying the rent for the building that houses it, so that, on the one hand, a permanent firefighting presence on the island is ensured and, on the other hand, the ability to respond immediately in case of danger is maintained, conditions that are absolutely essential for the protection of the island’s residents and natural resources, given the difficulties in accessing the island, as well as the extensive vegetation covering the island, combined with the presence of scattered settlements (more than 65) and isolated dwellings.

Due to the above-mentioned circumstances, both the Municipality of Kythira and the island’s citizens and residents are particularly aware of fire safety issues, and in all cases of fires—such as the one in August 2017—there has been significant volunteer participation from private citizens, using their own equipment (water tankers and machinery), which they immediately and in a coordinated manner placed under the command and direction of the competent fire department authorities [see, for example, the Fire Department’s press release dated August 5, 2017, which states that tanker trucks (municipal and private) and earth-moving equipment are participating in the firefighting efforts (Ref. 1)].

During the critical period, the Municipality maintained two (2) privately owned fire trucks, and, as it does every year, it had hired seasonal fire safety personnel and had ensured the cleaning and maintenance of the extensive rural road network, as well as the fire safety zones. Furthermore, in the period immediately preceding the 2017 fire, measures had been taken to maintain and replace all of the municipality’s existing fire hydrants. In addition to the existing ones, eight (8) new hydrants had been installed at various locations, the special activation keys for which had been delivered to the fire trucks; at the same time, hydrants had been installed at the municipality’s pumping stations and reservoirs, compatible with the fire department’s couplings, thus creating a network capable of supporting firefighting efforts in the event of an incident [See the remarks made by the mayor of Kythira, on May 18, 2017, during the ceremony to present equipment procured by the Municipality of Kythira to Certified Volunteers (Ref. 2)].

Even in the period leading up to the incident, the Municipality of Kythira had been particularly concerned about the understaffing of the Fire Department, for which the Municipality spends significant amounts annually to ensure it continues to operate on the island for the safety of residents and visitors; however, as is ultimately evident from the relevant correspondence, the officials in charge at the Fire Department are indifferent and, despite repeated complaints, are taking no action to resolve the issue.

Specifically, we refer to the letter from the mayor of Kythira, Efstratios Charchalakis, to the Chief of the Fire Department, Mr. Vasileios Kapelios (Ref. 3), whose sole subject was the reinforcement of personnel at the Kythira Fire Station, which, at the time the letter was sent (December 12, 2016) had 8 vacant permanent positions out of a total of 12. This letter states, verbatim, the following:

“Dear Chief,

I am writing this letter to express my deep concern regarding the severe shortage of permanent staff at the Kythira Fire Department, where only 6 of the 12 authorized positions are filled, while 2 individuals are already on secondment and awaiting transfer. This means that, in effect, at the Kythira Fire Station there are 8 vacant permanent positions, a situation that, on the one hand, creates serious operational problems for the service and, on the other hand, exacerbates the sense of insecurity among the island’s residents.
I believe it is imperative to immediately reinforce the Kythira Police Station with permanent staff, and I ask for your personal intervention.
Thank you in advance for your cooperation.
Sincerely,
”THE MAYOR"

Nevertheless, the then Chief of the Fire Department, Mr. Vasileios Kapelios, remained indifferent and took no action whatsoever to address the request that had been submitted. On the contrary, in fact, in the months that immediately followed, the unit was further weakened when another firefighter was transferred, making the situation even more dire. This development prompted the sending of a new letter to the Chief, Mr. Vasileios Kapelios, (Ref. 4), in which, on the one hand, the mayor expressed his strong protest against the further downgrading of the Kythira Fire Station and, on the other hand, expressed deep concern about what might happen, under the current circumstances, during the upcoming wildfire season (summer 2017). In fact, in the same letter, the mayor provided specific details regarding the unique challenges and difficulties the island would face in the event of a major incident, while also holding Chief Vasileios Kapelios, to his responsibilities. The content of this letter reads verbatim as follows:

“Dear Chief,
We are simply puzzled by your decision No. 15496 F.202.3/10-03-2017, pursuant to which a (1) firefighter from the Kythira Fire Department to the Zakynthos Air and Sea Fire Department. Our confusion stems from the fact that we were expecting the Kythira Fire Station to be reinforced with personnel, rather than yet another move to downgrade it, such as the one mentioned above. Unfortunately, we have recently observed a steady reduction in personnel, while our efforts to strengthen fire safety on our island through certified volunteers appear to have fallen on deaf ears, as since December 12,, 2016, we have requested that a donation of equipment for our volunteers (which was procured by our municipality) be accepted, via a letter to the Gythio Fire Department of Gythio, and to date (three months later) we have received no response on the matter. We believe that your above decision may be challenged administratively, as it fails to take into account Article 101 of the Constitution, which requires the Administration to consider the specific conditions of island and mountainous regions when making its decisions. We are unable to understand the exact rationale behind the gradual dismantling of the Kythira Fire Department, a fact that concerns us greatly in light of the upcoming fire season. Our island has vast forested areas that cannot be monitored with such a small staff. In the event of a major incident, what exactly will happen? Will we wait for hours on end for reinforcements from the Peloponnese? And what if the weather doesn’t permit it? Who will take responsibility for the tragic deterioration of the local Fire Department?;

This is yet another time I am appealing for the need to strengthen the Kythira Port Authority Kythira with additional staff, and I regret to note that this has only led to negative developments, such as the one mentioned above, which I trust you will reverse immediately, as I do not wish for this issue to escalate further. I am certain that you understand how unrealistic it is to dismantle services on isolated islands in order to bolster larger ones.
Please take the necessary action.
Sincerely,
”THE MAYOR"

B. THE FIRE AND THE COURSE OF FIREFIGHTING OPERATIONS

On Friday, August 4, 2017, at approximately 10:45 a.m., according to a press release from the Fire Department, a fire broke out on the outskirts of the village of Pitsinades, near the Kythira Hospital.

The relevant authorities were immediately notified, and firefighting operations began. From the very beginning, the Municipality made all of its available resources and personnel available to those in charge of managing the firefighting operation. Private volunteers did the same with their water trucks and earth-moving equipment, as did numerous other volunteers who rushed to assist with whatever resources they had available, always waiting for and following the instructions of the authorities.

At the critical time when the fire was raging, and particularly on August 5, 2017, it was a common observation—shared by both the responsible municipal officials and the civil protection authorities of the municipality, as well as the volunteers and residents who, whether they were participating in firefighting or found themselves fighting for their lives and to protect their property, that although, objectively speaking, the conditions for the withdrawal of the aerial resources that had been deployed for firefighting had not yet been met on the first day of the fire, the Fire Department withdrew the aerial resources, which led to a complete resurgence of the fire, causing the situation to spiral out of control. It is worth noting that on the morning of August 5, 2017, there was no active fire front, but the burned area constituted a massive thermal load that the Fire Department was compelled to systematically douse with aerial resources to prevent the fire from reigniting, as strong winds were blowing in the area. This was also confirmed in recent statements to the media by the then Deputy Chief of Operations of the Fire Department, Lieutenant General (ret.) Mr. Ioannis Vassiliadis, who led the firefighting operation on Kythira from August 5 onward.

This fact was reported in all the print and online media coverage of those days, along with the protests and appeals from from municipal officials as well as residents, who, on the one hand, denounced the premature and unjustified suspension of aerial dumping, and, on the other hand, pleaded for the redeployment of aerial resources, which they insistently requested to operate on a continuous basis, without any gaps.

The statements recorded in the news reports of the time regarding these two issues—which were critical and decisive for the catastrophic progression of the fire—are particularly telling.

In the daily and online press, on August 5, 2017, the mayor of Kythira protested the delayed arrival of aerial firefighting resources, which resulted in the fire getting out of control. In the same reports, as well as in statements by the mayor, it was alleged that the Fire Department’s plan was flawed, since on the morning of Saturday, August 5, 2017, all aerial resources were withdrawn. Furthermore, the mayor alleges that both he and the emergency services had to call the Fire Department multiple times to have the aerial resources redeployed. The above is indisputably evident, as illustrated by the articles in the newspaper PROTO THEMA on August 5, 2017 (Ref. 5), as well as the corresponding article in the same newspaper on August 7, 2017 (Ref. 6), in which the mayor characteristically complains: “From yesterday until today, just to get the planes and helicopters to come, we had to call a hundred times; I believe there is a serious mismanagement of aerial resources. Today they were very late in arriving; this afternoon we had no aerial firefighting support. I truly believe that coordination is not as good as it could be.”.

The same observations are reflected in the statements of the deputy mayor in charge, Georgios Kominos, who, in the same news report (Ref. 5), notably states: “Right now the situation is out of control—and I mean that literally. Yesterday we assessed the situation, and everything was fine until 10 a.m. this morning, when the Chinook left. Once the Chinook left, the wind picked up and there were three or four significant flare-ups. … We are appealing for aircraft not to leave Kythira. …”

At the same time, news reports [see PROTO THEMA, published on August 5, 2017, at 7:07 p.m. (Ref. 5)] include anxious statements from island residents, such as this one from Kalliopi Karidi, a former representative of the local community of Mylopotamos: “Please tell them to keep the planes here because all of Kythira will burn down. Right now, a fire department helicopter is on the scene; four hours ago, it was a military helicopter. Every four hours, they send us an aircraft—it drops a little water and leaves. The whole village is there to help…”.
The lack of aerial firefighting resources, the significant delays in the arrival of aircraft, and the poor coordination of water drops are also documented in the Minutes of the Extraordinary Meeting of the Local Coordination Body (S.T.O.) dated August 5,2017 (Ref. 7).

Similar shortcomings in coordination and guidance on the part of those in charge were also evident in the management of ground-based firefighting resources, as in many cases there was a complete failure to make use of the water tankers and excavators owned by local authorities and private individuals, who in vain asked the authorities for instructions. There have been numerous reports that, while volunteers and those familiar with the rural road network were informing ground-based firefighting forces and fire trucks on how they could navigate to reach the locations requiring intervention, valuable time was lost due to the lack of relevant orders from those responsible for coordination and decision-making. “We have no orders” was the typical response from the firefighters [see the letter dated February 5, 2018, with protocol number 329, from the Mayor of Kythira (Ref. 8) to the Deputy Minister of Citizen Protection, Mr. Toska, with corresponding copies sent to the Chief and the relevant departments of the Fire Department, to local government officials, and to the members of Parliament representing the electoral district].

The issue of the delayed deployment of aerial resources, as well as that of their admittedly erroneous early withdrawal from the fire front, combined with the generally poor coordination of the available firefighting forces, sparked intense debate and controversy, even at the political level, even while the fire was still raging.

A telling example of this is the statement by the then Deputy Minister of Citizen Protection, Mr. Nikolaos Toskas, which appears in an article in the newspaper “PROTO THEMA” on August 7, 2017, under the headline “New Democracy and the Mayor of Kythira Played a Political Game” (Ref. 9). As reported in the relevant article, in an interview with the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA), the deputy minister accused the mayor of Kythira of requesting more aerial resources in coordination with New Democracy, of which, as he pointedly stated, the mayor is a key figure.

In the same vein are the statements made by Mr. Toska on the radio station PRAKTORIO FM, which are included in the article published by *To Proto Thema* on August 11, 2017 (Ref. 10): “There have been some major fires; there was also some exploitation of the situation for publicity, and there was a single instance—in the two years I’ve been at the ministry—where, instead of thanks for making all our resources available, there was criticism.”.

However, as revealed in a recent interview on the “SKAI” television station (Ref. 11), with the former Deputy Chief of the Fire Department, Mr. Yiannis Vassiliadis—who had been in charge of coordinating the firefighting efforts on Kythira—it emerged that, from an operational standpoint, he was deprived of the necessary aerial resources, with adverse consequences for the outcome of the fire; the former Minister of Citizen Protection, Mr. Nikolaos Toskas, had been informed “both verbally and in writing.”.
A record of the entire situation, both before and during the course of the devastating fire, as well as a response to the above statements by the former Deputy Minister of Citizen Protection, is included in the letter from the mayor of Kythira to Nikolaos Toskas (Ref. 8), in which, among other things, it is noted that “The aerial firefighting operation on Sunday, August 6, 2017, was carried out using a rotation system only after the Prime Minister personally intervened and the issue gained widespread attention. But woe to a country where the Prime Minister himself must intervene to ensure the obvious.”.

The conclusion that this was a firefighting operation that had failed in terms of coordination was unanimous and, as such, was documented at all levels. An example of this is the article published in the newspaper “KATHIMERINI” on August 8, 2017 (Ref. 12), when the fire was still active, with small, contained hotspots and no active fireline, under the headline “Kythira: The Mistakes and Omissions of the Operation.” In the relevant report, based on information provided to the author by high-ranking officials of the Fire Department, on the condition of anonymity, a preliminary assessment of the operation in Kythira is presented, based on discussions reportedly held during an informal meeting attended by Fire Department Chief Vasileios Kapelios and Deputy Minister of Citizen Protection Tosca. Specifically, according to this report:

“The Fire Department leadership identified shortcomings in coordination—not of aerial resources, as local government officials had alleged, but of ground forces—in a preliminary, preliminary assessment of the operation in Kythira. Furthermore, high-ranking officers of the Fire Department, who spoke to “K” on the condition of anonymity, confirmed that on Saturday morning there was an incorrect assessment of the conditions prevailing on the island, resulting in the fire—which had temporarily subsided—reigniting and once again getting out of the firefighters“ control. These issues were reportedly discussed at an informal meeting at the Fire Department’s Operations Center in Halandri, in the presence of Fire Department Chief Vasilis Kapelios and Deputy Minister of Citizen Protection Nikos Toskas. A well-informed source told ”K“ that, although the fire on Kythira broke out on Friday, by Saturday evening, the fire department officer in charge of the operation had not established a coordination committee, resulting in a lack of cooperation between the Fire Department, the Police, local government, and volunteers. ”This is a serious oversight,“ said a Fire Department official, adding that ”the local government’s water trucks and excavators were not utilized effectively, nor were the volunteer teams.” The same source admitted that on Saturday morning, a mistake was made in assessing the data from the fire front. In other words, temporarily—and since there was no active fire front—it was assumed that the fire had essentially been brought under partial control. There was a sense of complacency, and in fact, according to some reports, two Canadair aircraft that were en route to Kythira were ordered to change course and drop water on another fire front. As a result, the fire reignited due to the strong winds blowing in the area, which changed direction at regular intervals. A similar mistake had been made during the fire that broke out in early July in Kotronas and Skoutari in Mani.”.

Of course, the details mentioned in the above report in *Kathimerini*—regarding what, according to reports, were reportedly confirmed at this informal meeting attended by Chief Vasilios Kapelios and Deputy Minister of Citizen Protection Tosca, must be investigated further, in light of the recent revelations by Mr. Matthaiopoulos, as reported in the July 19, 2020, edition of the newspaper “KATHIMERINI TIS KYRIAKIS” and are detailed below.

In addition to everything described above, we must add that, during the investigations conducted in the period that followed regarding the specific fire on Kythira, and despite the extent of the discussions and the existence of very serious allegationsregarding the management and coordination of the firefighting operation, none of the competent municipal officials (mayor, deputy mayor in charge, head of civil protection) were ever called upon to testify on the matter.

C. THE LATEST REVELATIONS FROM KATHIMERINI

In the days immediately preceding this, with three (3) years having already passed since the aforementioned fire broke out on the island of Kythira, the entire country watched in shock as the newspaper “KATHIMERINI TIS KYRIAKIS” published shocking revelations in its July 19, 2020, edition (Ref. 13), which included a transcribed conversation from September 2018 between the expert witness, Mr. Dimitrios Liotsios, and the former chief of the Corps, Mr. Vasileios Matthaiopoulos.

In this conversation, following—as is already being investigated by the Athens Public Prosecutor’s Office— Mr. Matthaiopoulos exerted intense pressure on the expert witness so that the latter, in his report, avoid any mention of the liability of his superior officers, as well as other officials from the agencies involved and political figures; a clear “warning” that his failure to comply with the instructions would have adverse consequences for him, including, among other things, his employment status and performance evaluation, citing as a prime example of such tactics, the events surrounding the Kythira fire in August 2017, regarding which he specifically asserted the following:

“That’s how things work. That’s how things went last year with Kapelios (editor’s note: former head of the Coast Guard) and Vassiliadis (editor’s note: former deputy chief of operations). To get rid of Vassiliadis, Kapelios left him stranded in Kythira without air support and in Mani without air support. There are so many cases pending with the prosecutors in Gythio and Piraeus… That’s how the game is played.”.

These shocking revelations were followed in the days immediately afterward by statements from the deputy chief of operations, Mr. Vassiliadis, who, regarding the fire on Kythira, told the print and online media [see Liberal, July 21, 2020 (Ref. 14)] that:

“Operationally, I was denied access to aerial resources, which affected the outcome of the fires in both Kythira and Mani. Either they were denied to me or they were taken away from me … I spent the whole day asking Mr. Kapelios to let me go to the fire. To take the helicopter so I could coordinate the firefighting efforts. At 9:30 p.m., he gave me the order to leave. So I arrived in Kythira at 3:30 a.m., crossed over on a Coast Guard boat, and despite everything, we managed to put out the fire. However, the area affected by the fire covered approximately 10,000 stremmata, and the next day I demanded—as was my duty—from the commander of the National Fire Service, who I imagine relayed this to the chief, that I be provided with aerial resources using the ”relay system,” as we call it in our terminology—that is, one leaving as another arrives—so that we would have aerial resources over the affected area all day long. So in the morning, three water bombers arrived—two CL215s and one CL415. The CL415 malfunctioned and left, and the chief took the two CL215s and sent them to a wildfire in Kalamata, the village where he is from, without even informing me.”.

The above revelations shed new light on the causes of the withdrawal of the air assets, their delayed intervention, and the coordination issues, facts that undeniably constituted a reality observed by everyone as events unfolded during the firefighting efforts on Kythira in August 2017, as described in detail above; however, until now, no one has been able to identify the reasons behind these phenomena, nor, of course, could anyone have imagined the chilling details that have since come to light.

Specifically, the transcribed conversation between Mr. Liotsios and Mr. Matthaiopoulos reveals, according to the claims of the former Chief of the Fire Department, Mr. Matthaiopoulos, that the absence of aerial firefighting resources, the delays in water drops, and, more generally, the poor coordination in managing the firefighting operation, were not due—as was presented to the public—to a misjudgment of the situation, nor to an inability to dispatch sufficient aerial firefighting resources in a timely manner due to multiple obligations, but to a deliberate, intentional act on the part of the then Chief of the Fire Service, Mr. Kapelios could cause professional harm to the Deputy Chief of the Fire Service, Mr. Vassiliadis, who had taken charge of coordinating the firefighting efforts, with the result that, as a result of these acts and omissions, human lives were put at risk, property was destroyed, and the island of Kythira suffered an unprecedented environmental disaster.

Because, in light of the above revelations, it appears that in the present case there are very serious indications that criminal acts have been committed, which fall within the scope of criminal provisions, specifically Articles 259 (breach of duty) and 288 (obstruction of the prevention of public danger) of the Penal Code, as well as possibly other provisions, the applicability of which will be determined by the evidence that emerges during the investigation of the case.

FOR THESE REASONS
WE ASK
The criminal investigation of the above acts and omissions, as well as any that may arise from the preliminary proceedings, and the criminal prosecution and punishment of any person found liable, as provided by law.

It should be noted that there are legal grounds for this criminal complaint to be linked to the case file already compiled regarding the August 2017 fire in Kythira, which was recently retrieved from the archives, and that all further evidence is contained in the records of the Fire Department, where it should be sought.”.