Former Defense Minister of the Republic of Cyprus, Kostas Papacostas, was found guilty of manslaughter on July 9 for the explosion that occurred on the island’s naval base in Mari on the south coast on July 11, 2011, killing 13 people.
Three fire chiefs, Pampos Charalambous, Andreas Nikolaou and Andreas Loizidis, were convicted of manslaughter in the same case.
Foreign Minister, Marcos Kyprianou and Army Deputy Commander, Savvas Argyrou, were found not guilty on all charges by the court in the city of Larnaca.
The Police due to the tension in court, took the convicted outside the court from the backside of the building to avoid the victims’ relatives. They departed in four patrol cars heading to the Central Prisons.
The relatives of those killed and injured in the blast were angry with the verdict and claimed that all the defendants should go to prison for life. They characterized the verdict unjust, as reported in the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet.
Papacostas, Charalambous, Nikolaou, and Loizidis will reappear in court for sentencing on July 24. Each of the fire chiefs face up to four years in prison and were found guilty of reckless and dangerous behavior.
The Mari explosion damaged 730 homes and businesses. Burning containers with 400 tons of gunpowder triggered a blast despite the repeated warnings that they were unsafe.
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