In a surprise move, Greek prosecutors have filed criminal charges against eight Kazakh passengers of a privately chartered yacht linked to a devastating fire that broke out on the Saronic island of Hydra last week.
The charges include complicity in arson, a serious offence has defendants facing up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to 200,000 euros.
Among the passengers, two minors were exempt from the charges, judicial officials said.
Details remained unclear for three additional passengers: a Briton and two Polish nationals.
Greek authorities said they were seeking the assistance of Kazakhstan to prosecute the eight who fled Greece without being questioned by authorities after the devastating fire razed 300 stremma of fine forest on the tiny cosmopolitan island.
The decision to prosecute the passengers followed forensic evidence discovered at the site of the fire where firefighters found remnants of fireworks. The finds have raised fresh suspicions of arson anew.
On Thursday, the yacht’s captain and first mate were remanded in custody in connection with the case, but 11 other crew members were released on bail, barred from exiting the country.
A separate prosecutor, meantime, has launched a preliminary investigation into the actions of firefighting and port authorities during the Hydra fire.
The focus is to identify any oversight that may have allowed the yacht’s lessees to leave Greece despite suspicions surrounding their role in the incident.