Topaloudhis case: Convicted Greek man seeks review at Court of Cassation
The rape and murder case of Eleni Topaloudhis reaches the Court of Cassation for a second time on Tuesday, 17 November 2026.
Court of Cassation: New hearing in Topaloudhis murder case almost 8 years after crime
On Tuesday, 17 November 2026, the rape and murder case of 21-year-old student Eleni Topaloudhis in Rhodes returns to the Court of Cassation. According to Newsit.gr, one of the two convicted men — the Greek — is seeking a review of the decision that rejected the appeals of both defendants.
In the courtroom, the lawyer of the convicted Greek man will face off against the lawyer of Eleni Topaloudhis's family. The new proceeding is neither a retrial nor a re-examination of the guilt of the two men, according to information reported by dimokratiki.gr. The court is called upon to determine whether the previous decision on the misdemeanours was legally correct.
The defence argument
The lawyer of the convicted Greek man, Mr Ambrazis, has insisted since 2020 that his client bore lesser responsibility compared to his Albanian co-defendant. He bases this view on the fact that his client is left-handed, whilst most of the wounds on the victim's body are said to have been inflicted by a right-handed person. He also argues that the fingerprints on the iron used in the attack belong exclusively to the Albanian co-defendant.
He admits only to a "powerful punch" and denies any active participation in transporting the semi-conscious girl to the sea. He also invokes audiovisual material which, according to his claim, was not properly evaluated, as well as contradictions in the forensic medical opinion regarding whether the victim resisted.
What happened on 27 November 2018
According to the indictment, the two perpetrators picked up Eleni Topaloudhis from her home in Rhodes and drove her to a country residence in the Pines of Lindos area, where they gang-raped her and beat her brutally. The young woman sustained successive blows from fists and an iron, whilst the perpetrators attempted to strangle her.
Severely injured and semi-conscious, she was transferred to the rocky bay "Fokia", from where she was thrown into the sea. Her death was caused by drowning. Her body was found on 28 November 2018 and the two young men were arrested on 5 December of that year.
The court proceedings
The first-instance trial lasted almost five months. On 15 May 2020, judges and jurors of the Mixed Jury Court of Athens unanimously found the two defendants guilty of intentional homicide and gang rape, imposing on each a life sentence plus an additional 15 years' imprisonment, with no mitigating circumstances.
The second-instance trial began in February 2022 at the Mixed Jury Court of Appeal of Athens. Both defendants again blamed one another. In May 2022, appellate judges and jurors unanimously rejected all requests for mitigating circumstances and upheld the guilty verdicts and sentences.
In May 2024, the Court of Cassation rejected the appeals, rendering the sentences final. However, the subsequent request for review, the January 2025 hearing which ended without a decision, and the setting of a new trial date extended the proceedings for almost two further years.
On Tuesday, 17 November 2026, almost eight years after the crime, the Court of Cassation will be called upon to rule whether its own 2024 decision stands legally. Eleni Topaloudhis has become a symbol of the struggle against gender-based violence in Greece.
Source: Newsit.gr