A farmer in Cyprus was sentenced today, Monday, to eight years in prison for causing the largest and worst wildfire in the modern history of the Mediterranean island.
A massive fire that broke out on July 3, 2021 claimed the lives of four Egyptian agricultural workers and caused damage in excess of 15 million euros ($16 million) and forced the authorities to evacuate eight villages.
The Limassol Criminal Court found a 69-year-old farmer guilty of setting fire “maliciously, recklessly and willfully” after attempting to burn straw.
The fire quickly spread due to strong winds and temperatures above 40 degrees Celsius on the island’s east coast.
The three-judge panel considered that, in reaching its decision, it took into account the defendant’s conduct and apparent lack of remorse.
Eyewitnesses said the farmer left his fields after the fire started and did not report this to the authorities until he arrived at the cafe.
While many rushed to put out the fire, it became known that the farmer asked for coffee.
Mitigating circumstances were considered to be the absence of a criminal record, age and family circumstances.
The court said the decision was necessary to prevent an increase in human-caused forest fires.
The court said the prosecution provided strong evidence against the suspect after he recalled what forced him to carry out a massive operation that required Israeli and EU help to put out the fire.
Then-President of Cyprus Nikos Anastasiades, who visited the affected area after putting out the fire, said villages in the path of the fire had suffered “unprecedented destruction”.
The devastating fire destroyed more than 50 square kilometers of forests, houses and property.
Four Egyptian agricultural workers aged between 24 and 35 were killed in the village of Odo, while more than 80 houses and dozens of farms and small businesses were destroyed in rural areas of Limassol and Larnaca.
