THE ATTORNEY-GENERAL has announced that by Wednesday he will appeal against a Court ruling which acquitted all five defendants in the case of a fatal air crash in 2005 in which 121 persons died.
Speaking to London Greek Radio (LGR), Attorney-general Petros Clerides expressed his disagreement with the Assize Court decision, taken by a majority of two to one, saying he will appeal, meeting the deadline of January 4th.
Clerides explained that the appeal process will probably not take more than a couple of days.
At the same time he described as unfair claims by the relatives of the 121 victims that the Court’s decision is a result of bad handling of the case by the Law Office of the Republic.
On August 14, 2005 121 people were killed when an HELIOS Boeing 737 crashed into the mountainside of Grammatiko, north of the Greek capital, on its way to Prague.
Five persons were facing charges of manslaughter and causing the death of all on board by reckless, dangerous and careless action.
The Court ruled last week by majority (two to one) that there was not sufficient evidence linking the defendants to the air crash and as such they bear no responsibility for the crash.
In his statements to LGR the Attorney General also referred to last July’s explosion in Mari in which 13 people lost their lives, stressing that the incident has jeopardised Cyprus’ credibility.
He described the incident as “a national catastrophe”, noting that despite the fact that the HELIOS crash caused more victims, the Mari explosion has different ramifications.
Clerides said that a series of errors led to the explosion, which put at risk the country’s credibility. He said that one should bear in mind that the Mari incident covers a period of 30 months, during which a number of people were involved and their actions or omissions must be scrutinised.
The Attorney-general also said that he and his associates are examining the police report into the explosion as well as the findings of a commission of inquiry before they reach their own conclusions towards the end of next week.
He underlined that this was a very serious process and only he has the authority to decide whether a number of people will be prosecuted.
Clerides rejected accusations that pressure was exerted or that biased decisions might be taken.
Thirteen people were killed and dozens e injured when a massive explosion occurred at the Evangelos Florakis naval base, near Limassol. (CNA)
