[Cyprus Times] Petros Filippidis: In the dock today for aggravated rape and two attempts. The trial of Lignadis continues

Who will testify in the trial of Petros Filippidis, the case file and the actor's attitude The defense is expected to request a recess It is unknown whether he will be in the courtroom The trial will continue in an adjacent courtroom with D. /quote]

The trial of actor Petros Filippidis, who is accused of serial rape that took place in 2008 and two attempted rapes in 2010 and 2014, will begin today, barring any unforeseen circumstances, before the Mixed Jury Court of Athens. It remains unknown whether the accused actor, who remains in custody since July 2021, will appear in court today, as his defence has publicly announced that he is facing health problems.

In contrast, the three female actresses who have accused Petros Filippidis of sexually assaulting them are expected to be in the audience, as well as "named" witnesses that the complainants have suggested. These are the well-known actresses Katia Dandoulaki, Chrysa Pappa, Lena Drosaki and Evelina Papoulia.

However, it is possible that the defence of the accused actor may request a few days' adjournment of the trial, a request that the court will decide whether or not to grant. At the same time, in the next room to the one where the trial of Petros Filippidis is set to take place, the hearing of the case of Dimitris Lignadis, who is accused of raping three minors and an adult man, will continue.

The file on Filippidis: The three allegations against him

Petros Filippidis is accused of raping his colleague, the daughter of an actress. In fact, the accused actor had worked with the mother of the complainant's mother in two theatrical performances from 2004 to 2010. The complainant has testified that Petros Filippidis sexually assaulted her in September 2008 in the dressing room of the 'Ivy' theatre and while she was visiting him as part of a business appointment. There, the actor, according to her testimony, committed lewd acts against her. In addition, the actress has testified that about three months before her rape in the theatre, her colleague had invited her to the office of a theatre company and there he tried for the first time to have sexual intercourse with her, against her will.

The second case for which the well-known actor is on trial concerns an attempted rape in February 2010 at the "Mousouri" theatre. This charge was again brought against him following a complaint by a colleague, who testified before the Court, that inside the theatre she was brutally sexually assaulted by her now accused colleague and in her attempt to escape from his hands she screamed and suffered injuries. According to the complainant, after the assault on her, the defendant threatened her that he would destroy her professionally.

The third charge that Petros Filippidis faces relates to the attempted rape of another colleague in his car. The girl has testified that after a business appointment with the defendant, he drove her in his car on a street in Paleo Psychiko and after locking the doors of his vehicle, he attacked her and tried to force her to perform sexual acts against her will. The complainant has testified that she was in desperation and that she escaped the attack when the accused opened the doors of his vehicle letting her go after threatening to destroy her. In fact, the victim testified that the shock she suffered was such that she gave up her acting profession.

For his part, Petros Filippidis had denied all the charges against him in his apology to the investigating judge. As part of his apology, he spoke of "false and unsubstantiated allegations", of "revenge fury", while referring specifically to his two colleagues who accused him of attempted rape, he claimed that they wanted to "hit the establishment" because he is "beloved by the public". As for the actress who accused him of raping her, he described her in his apology as a woman "sickly obsessive and intrusive" who moved against him because he did not enter into a sexual relationship with her.

However, in the verdict issued in the case, the judges have refuted the above allegations of the accused, noting, among other things, the following: "The three victims denounce facts that took place at different periods of time without showing the existence of a friendly relationship between them, nor is there any motive to defame the accused in order to gain publicity as a long period of time has elapsed since the alleged events and if indeed the objective of the victims was to gain publicity they would have denounced the said offences at an earlier time when they were at the beginning of their professional careers."

"Shaky health, I will ask for a recess"

The lawyer of Petros Filippidis, Michalis Dimitrakopoulos in statements to a TV station said that his client's health is shaky. In fact, Dimitrakopoulos said that he called the complainants' lawyers and informed them that his client would not be able to attend the trial. "I called the lawyers of the women complaining against Mr. Filippidis and told them that he is not physically able to attend court. Once the protagonist of a trial is not able to be there, the trial will not start. I will ask for a recess of the trial. And then, if he can't come, I'll ask him to come, even with a wheelchair. Because a trial without Filippidis being present would be a travesty," Dimitrakopoulos said, speaking on "Morning."

"The problem is pathological and I hope that he will be able to come to the next trial. Even with a wheelchair he will come. He's in no condition to go to the hospital yet. He will come to court even with a wheelchair," Dimitrakopoulos added.

The trial of Lignadis

Regardless of the outcome of the trial of Petros Filippidis today, i.e. whether it will be interrupted or will start normally, the trial of actor and director Dimitris Lignadis will continue in an adjacent courtroom. Friends of the first man who had accused the former artistic director of the National Theatre of rape are expected to testify in the audience today. It is possible, however, that the first witness and complainant may be asked to be re-examined, as the prosecutor has requested his presence at the trial in order to ask him new questions, if required by the progress of the proceedings.

The previous session of the court hearing the Lignadis case had, however, ended incidentally, as the lawyer of Dimitris Lignadis, Alexis Kougias, filed a complaint against the first witness for false testimony. "The testimony is absolutely false. The lawsuit was filed 10 or 11 years after the incident, there is no forensic report, but there are no witnesses either," Kougias had said, among other things, claiming that the witness "fell into contradictions about when he decided to file a lawsuit, confused the dates and did not tell the truth about his professional identity." This was, as Kougias said, "a common fraud."

In total, the accused director's lawyer identified 19 contradictions that the witness - according to him - fell into. "We request the application of Article 38 and that the complaint be forwarded to the prosecutor's office for prosecution," Kougias told the audience, with the witness's lawyer and plaintiff Yiannis Vlachos reserving his comments for today's hearing.

It will be recalled that Dimitris Lignadis' first complainant had testified at the trial that he was raped by the defendant, in his home, in order to discuss his future in the field. There, the defendant allegedly "bought" him a drink and a cigarette and he almost immediately lost consciousness. "Lignadis manipulated me, took advantage of me. He took advantage of my innocence at that age when I had no experience of anything. I was the perfect victim. It took me many years to handle this thing on my own. It affected my nature, I started to feel guilty, that I did something wrong," the witness told the court, describing his moments of sexual abuse, he said: "I drank the drink and the cigarette he offered me.....'I felt like I was having heart palpitations, that I didn't understand what was going on around me. I went out on the balcony and leaned on the couch. I felt it was very closed in the living room. I sat on the couch on the balcony. The defendant was completely undressed. I could not lift an arm or a leg at that moment." It was then, according to the witness, that his sexual abuse by the accused took place. "I wanted to turn around but I couldn't. I wanted to talk but I couldn't. I lost consciousness after that, which must have lasted one, two, three minutes. I woke up the next day with my pants and underwear down," the witness testified."

Source: Proto Thema

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