There is outrage in Greece after the conclusion of a trial in connection with the deaths of 102 people who lost their lives in a catastrophic fire in a town near Athens in 2018.
Initially, a suspected arsonist was charged in connection with the fire in Mati, along with the town's mayor, firefighters, police officers and politicians - 21 people in total.
Six of them were sentenced in Athens on Monday to five years in prison for involuntary manslaughter. However, they can avoid jail by paying a fine of around €38,000 ($40,680) each.
On July 23, 2018, a local resident lit a fire to burn dried garden waste on a hill above the holiday resort of Mati, a few kilometres north-east of Athens. This resulted in one of Greece's biggest fire disasters when strong winds fanned the flames which rolled over the village as far as the sea. In all, 102 people lost their lives - partly because several properties had been illegally fenced off, which blocked escape routes.
The authorities are said to have initially mistakenly sent life-saving fire-fighting helicopters to a wrong area. Another person in charge did not send any rescue boats, even though people had to flee from the fire into the sea - where some of them drowned.
The man who started the fire and five high-ranking fire service and civil protection officials have now been sentenced. The court ruled at the beginning of the trial that it would classify the matter as an offence and not as is usually the case with arson, which is a crime. That was because the court decided none of those involved had acted with any malicious intent. The ruling resulted in lenient sentences being handed down when the trial concluded.
A lawyer representing several family members of the 102 victims described the sentences as "a disgrace." An angry family member shouted "they let us burn a second time," and a chair was thrown across the courtroom towards the defendants as the verdict was announced.
Relatives later told reporters that they intended to appeal the lenient sentences, and take the case "all the way to the European Court of Justice."