Four individuals convicted over the deadly Mati wildfire in Greece have filed appeals with the Supreme Court (Areios Pagos) seeking reduced sentences, seven years after the tragedy that claimed dozens of lives.

The appellants include former Fire Service Chief Sotiris Terzoudis, Deputy Chief Vasilis Matthaiopoulos, and Civil Protection Secretary Ioannis Kapakis, all of whom are serving prison sentences. The fourth is Konstantinos Angelopoulos, found responsible for starting the fire due to gross negligence.

In their appeals, the former officials argue that the appellate court failed to recognize mitigating factors, including their previously law-abiding lives, and that their sentences should have been converted into fines, as had occurred in the first-instance trial.

However, Deputy Prosecutor Niki Anastasia Mouzaki recommended rejecting the appeals, stating that the previous rulings were fully justified both regarding guilt and the denial of mitigating circumstances. The Supreme Court judges will make the final decision.

Relatives of the victims were present at the hearing, urging the court not to overturn the previous decisions. Kalli Anagnostou, president of the Association of Victims’ Families, said: “The defendants have the right to seek leniency, but their failures took away the right of so many people to live.”