The captain and the 12 crew members of luxury yacht Persephoni I from which fireworks were allegedly were thrown and sparked a forest fire on the island of Hydra on Friday night have been arrested.
They were arrested after the yacht docked in the Athens Riviera on Saturday noon.
The whereabouts of the 17 passengers, all nationals of Kazakhstan, is unknown, with some media speculating that they have already return to their country.
The yachts was reportedly chartered by a Pakistani company.
The prosecutor in Piraeus has filed felony charges for arson against the 13 defendants who are scheduled to testify before the magistrate on upcoming Wednesday.
All defendants reject the accusations, while the captain has allegedly said that he was in his cabin during the incident, STAR TV reported.
The yacht has been confiscated for further investigation, however, according to latest information no naval flares that are used when a vessel is in danger has been missing and no traces of fireworks powder has been found.
The yacht was reported to authorities by a captain of another yacht sailing nearby, who claimed to have seen fireworks being shot from Persephoni before the forest fire started on Hydra.
As authorities continue investigation, especially in the direction of a possible “intent”, skai.gr reported that according to the investigation so far by the Fire Department and the Coast Guard, the perpetrators seem to have bought more warning light signals for this purpose, as several of them were found intact inside the yacht.
The case remains a mystery , so far.
Panhellenic Yacht Crew Association
Meanwhile, the Panhellenic Yacht Crew Association (HYCA) expressed its support for the 13 members of the yacht’s crew.
In a statement the HYCA described as “unprecedented in Greek history that all crew members of a vessel be arrested and detained for an incident, which allegedly took place under still unclear circumstances and while it is under investigation by the Competent Authorities, with the Coast Guard deciding, after an autopsy on the vessel, that there is not the slightest indication of flares being fired from the vessel”.
Something is very wrong here. How did the rich Russians disappear? Very fishy. Another case of Greek law being strangely applied.
Kazakhstan isn’t Russia
No, but Putin still controlls its politics!! As he does with a lot of other statens as Belarus and so forth….
I agree… this doesn’t smell, it stinks. Either the prosecutor is incredible incompetent or they got “orders from above” not to touch those oligarchs.
The Kazakhs chartered the yacht with a captain and crew. The captain is in charge, hence yacht owner/captain liable for any damage done. In principle.
So the Greek and/or foreign crew members, who almost certainly did not throw any fireworks, are arrested for a criminal offence that they did not commit, and the Kazakhs were allowed to leave Greece without even being interviewed.
A crucial point here: to be wealthy in Kazakhstan means that you are part of the political mafia that seized oil assets during the collapse of communism. So, essentially, foreigners with money and political connections are allowed to break Greek criminal law, while working people are prosecuted for these criminals’ acts. This must be a new policy from Mitsotakis.
Hear, Hear!!!