Lignadis appeal: Court of appeal hearing on minor rape cases
Former National Theatre head Dimitris Lignadis is being retried on charges of sexual abuse of underage boys.
Lignadis appeal: Court of appeal hearing on minor rape cases
Dimitris Lignadis, who previously served as artistic director of the National Theatre, appeared today before the Mixed Jury Court of Appeal. The legal proceedings concern his appeal against conviction on charges of sexual abuse of underage boys. Today's hearing had been postponed three times previously.
In summer 2022, the first-instance court had convicted him to twelve years imprisonment. The court panel had decided by majority (four against three) that he was guilty of the rape of two minors aged 17, offences which took place in 2015 in Athens and Epidaurus. However, he had been acquitted on two other charges, concerning a 16-year-old and an adult, as the latter did not appear in court.
The defendant remains out of prison under restrictive conditions, as he had been granted a stay of execution pending completion of the second-instance proceedings. He had been held in provisional detention for a total period of seventeen months before being released.
The Court of Appeal is called upon to judge the case de novo. The prosecutors have appealed against the acquittal decision for the 16-year-old, seeking to have the matter reconsidered. Additionally, they contend that the sentence imposed was insufficient in relation to the gravity of the acts and the psychological harm suffered by the victims.
The three complainants who had reported rape were present at today's hearing. The court is expected to announce its decision on 17 June.
Source: Newsbeast
Source: Newsbeast