Aegina: The deputy mayor and the garbage truck driver were sentenced for the death of the young people

12/06/2023

The Justice sentenced the driver of the garbage truck of the Municipality of Aegina and the then deputy mayor of technical works to six years in prison for manslaughter, for the death of the two young men, Christos Koubenas, 18, and his 20-year-old friend who was driving the motorcycle they were killed on.

The two children died in a traffic accident, which happened early in the morning of Wednesday, March 24, 2019, on the Aegina-Perdika Provincial Road, at the height of Marathon.

The motorcycle veered and overturned in a stream bed, fatally injuring them. According to the second expert opinion requested by the prosecutor, for which the judicial expert Panagiotis Madias was appointed, the traffic accident occurred when the garbage truck of the Municipality of Aegina blocked their road, which had illegally crossed the opposite stream to collect waste, and due to the bad workmanship at the bar, they lost their life.

The vindication for Christos’ mother, Sotiria Koubenas, came after four whole years of struggle to find the truth about her only son.

The court did not recognize any mitigating circumstances for the accused and the prosecutor was a catapult in her suggestion for their conviction. He also referred at length to the evidence gathered by the show “Light in the Tunnel” and presented, which showed the continued illegality of the driver who was always moving in the opposite flow of traffic both before and after the fatal traffic accident, as well as for the bars which remained in this state.

The court ordered that the case file be forwarded to the competent prosecutor in order to bring new criminal charges for perjury in court against the first expert appointed by the State and against the rest of the crew of the garbage truck.

Also in the same way, he ordered the transfer of the case file to the public prosecutor for criminal prosecution against the officials of the Municipality for the fact that even today he has not repaired the cut-throat bar in the specific part of the road that left no room for survival for the two, but and against third parties who may benefit from maintaining this condition (bars cut for more direct access to their properties).

The defendants appealed the court’s decision and the case will be taken to a second instance of adjudication, however this development was resounding and exemplary for many similar cases in our country.