Appellate court trial of Dimitris Lignadis commences

The Athens Mixed Jury Court of Appeal has begun the second-instance trial of director and actor Dimitris Lignadis regarding charges of raping minors. In the first-instance trial, Lignadis was found guilty by majority vote for two counts of rape against 17-year-old victims in 2015 and sentenced to a cumulative prison term of 12 years. The court previously granted him a stay of execution, allowing him to be released from prison the day after the verdict. He was unanimously acquitted of raping an adult in 2018 and acquitted by majority vote of raping a 16-year-old in 2011. Following the initial verdict, the public prosecutor appealed, requesting a harsher sentence and seeking a re-examination of the acquittal regarding the 16-year-old victim. This appellate hearing, which has faced at least three prior postponements, will now evaluate the validity of the prosecution's appeal. The proceedings aim to reach a final judgment on these allegations against the former head of the National Theatre.