Former National Theatre director back in court over minors’ rape convictions

The court is being asked to examine both Lignadis’s appeal against his conviction and the counter-appeal filed by the Appeals Prosecutor’s Office, which seeks a review of the acquittal concerning the 16-year-old and a revision of the sentence, which it considers too lenient.

At the same time, the prosecutor asked that the appeal concerning the legality of the acquittal be declared inadmissible, as it was ‘based on unofficial evidence’. The next hearing is scheduled for Wednesday 17 June.

Lignadis appeared before the Athens Mixed Jury Court of Appeal after three consecutive postponements had delayed the trial. The court is now being called upon to examine the serious charges of sexual abuse against minors from the beginning.

The former artistic director of the National Theatre comes to court following the first-instance conviction of July 2022. At the time, the Mixed Jury Court sentenced him to a total of 12 years in prison, finding him guilty by a majority of four to three of the rape of two minors, both aged 17, in Athens and Epidaurus in 2015. By contrast, he was acquitted in two other rape cases, involving a 16-year-old and an adult complainant, neither of whom appeared in the proceedings.

One of the issues that provoked strong reactions and mass protests was the fact that Lignadis was not sent to prison after his first-instance conviction. The court had decided to grant his appeal suspensive effect, allowing him to remain free under restrictive conditions until the case was heard on appeal.

By that point, Lignadis, who had been convicted at first instance of raping minors, had spent 17 months in pre-trial detention.

Court examines appeal and prosecution counter-appeal

The proceedings do not only concern the defendant’s attempt to reduce his sentence or overturn his conviction. The Mixed Jury Court of Appeal is being called upon to examine the case under double legal pressure, as alongside Lignadis’s appeal there is also the counter-appeal filed by the Appeals Prosecutor’s Office.

This shifts the balance, paving the way for a broad review that could lead to harsher criminal treatment.

Appeals prosecutor Vasiliki Halva filed an appeal a few days after the first-instance decision, focusing on two points: the acquittal of Lignadis in the case involving the 16-year-old complainant, on the grounds that the evidence was not properly assessed; and the length of the 12-year sentence, which she considered disproportionately low and not reflective of the gravity of the acts or the psychological harm caused to the minor victims.

In effect, the prosecution is requesting a review of the acquittal concerning the 16-year-old and a revision of the sentence imposed for the two rapes.

Prosecutor questions legality of prosecution appeal

With jurors and regular judges starting over, the proceedings are expected to be lengthy. Victims, witnesses and the accused will once again be at the centre of a hearing in which every statement will be analysed word for word.

For the defence, the goal is the complete dismissal of the charges or, at minimum, the preservation of mitigating circumstances so that Lignadis remains out of prison.

At the beginning of the hearing, the defendant stated that he was unemployed, adding: ‘I give private lessons in ancient history and history as a philologist’. All three complainants were present in the courtroom.

The court reconvened after the jury was drawn, and the prosecution appeal against the acquittal for one of the rape charges was discussed.

Immediately after the start of the proceedings, Lignadis’s lawyers filed an objection requesting the annulment of the prosecutor’s appeal. According to the reasoning developed by the director’s defence, the appeal filed by the Appeals Prosecutor’s Office lacks specific and detailed reasoning in relation to the part concerning the defendant’s acquittal over the rape of the 16-year-old.

The prosecutor told the court that every prosecutorial appeal must, by law, be fully and specifically reasoned, especially when it is directed against an acquittal, otherwise it must be rejected as unfounded.

In this case, the prosecutor said that the part concerning Lignadis’s first-instance acquittal over the 16-year-old ‘indeed does not sufficiently develop the reasons that would justify overturning the judgment of the first court, as the decision only mentions evidence and a book that was neither among the documents read out nor mentioned in the decision’.

However, the prosecutor found that the second part of the appeal, concerning the length of the 12-year sentence, which the Appeals Prosecutor’s Office considers too low, is sufficiently and correctly reasoned.

This decision is considered pivotal for the course of the trial. If the court accepts the defence’s objection, Lignadis will be tried before the Court of Appeal only for the two cases involving 17-year-olds for which he has already been convicted, without the risk of the third rape case being reopened. Otherwise, the trial will continue as normal for the full indictment.

At the next hearing, the court will rule on the admissibility of the appeals. The trial was adjourned until Wednesday 17 June.

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