UPDATE, JULY 1, 2024: Greek prosecutors have charged the eight Kazakh adult charter guests who were aboard Persefoni I with complicity in arson. This is in addition to the Greek superyacht crew facing possible jail time. According to multiple Greek media reports, the prosecutors are seeking assistance from the Kazakhstan government to arraign the charter guests. The guests were permitted to leave Greece on June 22, though reports conflict as to whether authorities questioned them. Regardless, prosecutors issued the charges based on alleged new evidence at the Hydra fire site. Prosecutors say that firefighters discovered remnants of either flares or fireworks. The prosecutors additionally are now investigating why the charter guests were permitted to leave.
Related, the primary charterer was Daniyar Abulgazin, one of Kazakhstan’s wealthiest individuals. He released a statement yesterday, confirming the charter and denying involvement in the fire. “We strictly followed the fire-safety rules established on the yacht,” it reads. “Neither I nor my guests asked the crew of the yacht or any other third parties to take any actions that could lead to a fire.” Abulgazin further indicates that he and the others will cooperate with Greek authorities in the ongoing investigation and won’t provide additional comment.
Meanwhile, the Greek superyacht crew manning the yacht Persefoni appeared in a Piraeus court on June 26 and denied wrongdoing. The judge ordered the captain and first officer to be jailed, however, awaiting trial on arson charges. If found guilty, they face stiff fines and long jail terms. The remaining 11 crewmembers are free on bail. We reached out to the yacht’s management company, Salaminia Yachting, for confirmation and further commentary. We did not receive a response by press time.
Read on for our original article.
Thirteen Greek superyacht crew are facing felony charges of arson for allegedly setting off fireworks that in turn caused a forest fire on the Greek island of Hydra.
The fire occurred during the evening of June 21. According to the Athens-Macedonian News Agency (ANA-MPA), the Hydra Port Authority collected eyewitness accounts from nearby yachts as well as a captain. The news agency says the captain confirmed seeing the fireworks and further provided details to the Hydra Fire Brigade. Arson-unit investigators for the Fire Brigade arrested the Greek superyacht crew based on these accounts on June 22 at a marina near Athens. Furthermore, the news agency reports, the investigators took the crew to appear before a prosecutor in Piraeus on June 23.
Greek prosecutors also requested the temporary arrest of the yacht, which authorities granted.
Though fireworks are legal in Greece, they’re prohibited from use during the hot summer months due to fire risks. Greece stiffened penalties just last year, too, for deliberate arson and arson related to negligence. Possibilities include prison sentences up to 20 years and fines up to €200,000.
Multiple wildfires have broken out in Greece in recent days, with gale-force winds making matters worse. Firefighters got the Hydra fire under control in the early hours of June 22. According to Hydra’s volunteer firefighting unit, this fire was in a remote area inaccessible from land. It additionally burned part of the island’s only pine forest. The same unit released the photo seen here, though it did not identify the yacht. Neither did it indicate if the crewmembers charged with arson worked onboard this particular yacht.
Similarly, neither the firefighting unit nor ANA-MPA named the crewmembers or the yacht. However, some Greek media outlets identify the yacht as Persefoni I. The 176-footer (53.8-meter), from 2012, charters for up to 12 guests. Some of the same Greek media outlets report that the charter guests were from Kazakhstan. That country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says no Kazakh citizens faced arrest or criminal charges in relation to the incident.
The 13 Greek superyacht crew must enter a plea in court on June 26. In the two days following the fire, some Greek media indicated that they denied the allegations.
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