Dimitris Lignadis will once again stand trial for three cases of rape of minors, following the decision of the Mixed Jury Court of Appeal to accept the appeal filed by the Prosecutor’s Office of the Court of Appeal.
This development opens the possibility of a harsher sentence being imposed on him during his second-instance trial. The prosecutorial appeal concerns two points: first, the re-examination of the case involving the rape of a minor in 2011, for which the former artistic director of the National Theatre had been acquitted at first instance by majority decision; and second, a review of whether the sentence imposed on him for the other two rapes was sufficiently strict.
At first instance, in 2022, he had stood trial for four rapes and was convicted of two of them, namely the cases involving two 17-year-olds in 2015.
At first instance, in 2022, Dimitris Lignadis was sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment for the rape of two 17-year-olds in 2015, with the execution of the sentence suspended until the appeal was heard. At the same time, he was acquitted in two other cases, one of which is now returning to the Court of Appeal.
The appeal was accepted despite the recommendation of the prosecutor at the hearing that the acquittal in the case involving the 15-year-old should not be re-examined and that only the part concerning the length of the sentence should be discussed. Following the decision, the defence requested the appointment of a specialist psychologist or psychiatrist to examine the complainants.
Sources: Kathimerini, Το Vima
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