With a week delay, prosecutors have charged eight adult Kazakh nationals who were passengers on the chartered yacht suspected to have started the fire in the forest of the island of Hydra last Friday.
The charges are “complicity in arson”.
Two minors, aged 14 and 17, who were also on board and who reportedly fired the fireworks are not facing any charges.
Greek authorities have reportedly sought assistance from Kazakhstan, as the yacht’s renters left Greece without being questioned by authorities.
The request is very unlikely to received a positive response as the main charterer of the luxury yacht was reportedly the powerful oligarch Daniyar Abulgazin who controls the gas and petrol resources.
Furthermore, there is no extradition agreement between Greece and Kazakhstan. The only way is that either they come to Greece voluntarily or they are arrested on if they touch foot at least in Europe and thus on a Red Alert Warrant in case Athens will issue one.
Also on board were Abulgazin’s wife who leads the biggest charity organization in the country and their two teenager children, other officials in powerful positions in Kazakhstan as well as as couple of Polish nationals and one Briton.
Unprecedented handling
The case takes on unprecedented dimensions regarding the handling of the case by both the Coast Guard and the Fire Service that was in charge for investigation.
The Internal Affairs service of the security forces is investigating the handling of the case, including answers to questions as to why the passengers were not interrogated and/or were not prohibited from leaving the country or why the Fire Service did not go to the beach of Agios Nikolaos to investigate earlier.
Remnants of fireworks found
Media revealed on Thursday that only five days after the fire that burned three hundred acres of forest land in Hydra, a forensic investigation was performed by officers of the Arson Crimes Directorate on the beach where the fire started.
Investigators reportedly discovered remnants of fireworks in the cove where the blaze erupted.
Mega TV reported on Thursday that the two teenagers and a crew member boarded on an inflatable by-boat reached the specific beach of Hydra on Friday night as the “kids” wanted to fire crackers. “The fire has started from the beach and move upward to the forest, not the other way around,” the report stressed.
Meanwhile, the yacht’s captain and the first mate have been detained, while other crew members, who were apprehended, were released on bail with restrictions.
They have all insisted that no fireworks were shot from the yacht.
Typical Greek handling of a situation but I guess authorities were told to bypass any detention of those VIPs, dont bother them,special people who can pay cash incentives to remove themselves very quickly onto the nearest plane
The road to hell is paved with gold.