Four years after the snow chaos that trapped thousands of motorists in Attiki Odos highway around Athens in January 2022, a court sentenced three executives of the managing company as responsible for the chaos.
3,500 people were trapped in the snow for almost 70 hours in the highway. 5 were taken to hospital with hypothermia. Below: police officer carries little girl to safety.
On Monday, a Single-Member Misdemeanor Court sentenced the three defendants to 10 months in prison, suspended, after finding them guilty of disrupting transport safety, a misdemeanor offense, in connection with the chaos caused by Storm Elpida.
The court granted the defendants a mitigating factor for their previously lawful conduct but rejected a claim of genuine remorse, noting that compensation of 2,000 euros was given to each stranded driver after pressure from the government rather than as an initiative by the company.
Three other defendants were acquitted, even though the prosecutor had requested the conviction of four defendants.
The court also approved a request to forward the trial records to the Athens Prosecutor’s Office for further investigation into the possible role of public officials, including the then head of the Attica Traffic Police and the director of the relevant Attiki Odos department, daily kathimerini and other media reported.
The investigation will examine whether measures such as banning heavy vehicles should have been taken before the extreme weather conditions hit.
Thousands of people, drivers, families, elderly and children were left stranded on the highway for hours during the storm, sparking widespread criticism of the authorities and the company’s handling of the crisis.
