Land-grabbers seen behind last summer's wildfires

A months-long investigation by Greece's fire service in cooperation with police authorities has found that most of last summer's wildfires in Eastern Attica, on the Ionian island of Zakynthos and in the southern prefecture of Ilia were human-caused, set by rackets seeking to have forests reclassified as crop or grazing lands or for residential development.

According to sources inside the Citizens' Protection Ministry, an investigation into the fires that broke out in the areas of Lagonissi and Anavysos, east of the capital, in late July and early August has uncovered evidence of the involvement of state officials in efforts to reclassify and exploit burnt land.

Investigators found official documents purportedly certifying that the area, comprising some 690 hectares of pine forest, had been burnt about 10 years ago.

Meanwhile a prosecutor on Zakynthos, where a...