A clear message about changing the Penal Code regarding arsonists was sent through a social media video by Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Mitsotakis on arsonist arrests: End of impunity, no one can play with lives
“End of impunity. No one can play with the lives and property of our fellow citizens, nor with our natural environment“, states Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in his TikTok post.
“This year alone, more than 300 arrests have been made for forest arson“, the Prime Minister notes in his post, emphasizing that “No one can play with the lives and property of our fellow citizens, nor with our natural environment”.
He stressed that the State will be relentless against those who endanger human lives and cause destruction in the country.
What the new Penal Code provides for arsonists
Those arrested are prosecuted under the new stricter provisions of the Penal Code, which was modified by the current government (Law 5090 of 2024), and which provide severe penalties for arsonists.
Specifically, negligent forest arson that results in deaths or ecological disaster, even when the arson is caused under conditions where the danger index, according to the daily risk prediction map, is high, is treated as a serious felony carrying sentences from 10 (minimum) to 20 years (maximum) imprisonment, financial penalty up to €200,000, and confiscation of the perpetrator’s assets.
Until recently, under the penal code as modified by the SYRIZA government (Law 4619/2019), the same offense was treated as a misdemeanor with a minimum penalty of just 10 days and typically with sentence suspension, as in the case of the Mati fire. Meanwhile, intentional forest arson in its basic form is now punished as a serious felony with imprisonment that cannot be suspended or converted in any way, financial penalty up to €200,000, and asset confiscation (Articles 42 and 43 of Law 5090/2024).
In contrast, under the previous penal code of the SYRIZA government, it was treated as a misdemeanor with imprisonment and possibility of suspension.
Additionally, when intentional forest arson causes death, it is now punished only with life imprisonment and potential release after substantial review by the judicial council at 18 years (Article 19 of Law 4855/2021 in conjunction with Article 25 of Law 5090/2024).
The same offense under the previous penal code of the SYRIZA government (Law 4619/2019) was punished with imprisonment up to 15 years and mandatory release at 6 years.
Furthermore, in cases of misdemeanor manslaughter by negligence with multiple victims, as in the case of the Mati fire, the total penalty reaches 10 years under the current penal code (Article 8 of Law 4855/2021), while under the penal code as modified by the SYRIZA government (Law 4619/2019) it could not exceed 5 years.
It should be noted that the Mitsotakis government through Articles 6, 19, and 25 of Law 5090/2024 increased the maximum imprisonment penalty for felonies from 15 to 20 years and tightened the conditions for suspension and conditional release.
In contrast, under the penal code as modified by the SYRIZA government, penalties for misdemeanors have symbolic character as they are typically suspended. Under the penal code as it stands today, every penalty above one year is not virtual but real as it is served and not suspended.
Therefore, all penalties concerning forest arson, with the changes instituted by the current government, are served in prison, are not suspended nor converted in any way, and appeals do not have suspensive effect (Article 42 of Law 5090/2024).
