In a continuous "ping-pong" exchange of responsibilities and... The two defendants accused of the rape and murder of 21-year-old student Eleni Topaloudi, in 2018 in Rhodes, Greece, indulged in a "ping-pong" of "ping-pong" and "nailing". As they had done in the first instance, the two young men, who are sentenced to life imprisonment and an additional 15 years each, began before the Court of Appeal to accuse each other of the atrocious crime, sometimes even falling into contradictions. The bench asked a lot of questions to both perpetrators in order to shed light on the atrocious crime that had shaken the nation.
"I am not to blame because I did not even touch her," said the accused Rhodian, starting his apology in court, claiming that he did not hit and did not throw the girl into the sea. As he claimed, his co-defendant of Albanian origin was the one who brutally abused the 21-year-old student when all three of them were at his family's holiday home in Pefki, Rhodes.
"It was not my fault" the accused repeated several times and in response to questions from the court said that he and his co-defendant went to the gym together and had a joint outing with girls. "For one night we were with one girl and we never spoke again and then we had found two other girls. We met for one night and we did not meet again," said the 24-year-old from Rhodes.
President: Did he find you girls?
Defendant : No, he did not find girls for each other.
Continuing to answer questions from the bench, the 24-year-old stated "not straight" but "bisexual".
President: Explain?
[BR][BR]Defendant : You may like any man.
President : Do you go with men?
Defendant : Not with women only. I am not to blame
Giving his own version of what happened that fatal night for the life of Eleni Topaloudi at his country house, the accused claimed that he and the girl consumed alcohol and then the 21-year-old girl, according to his allegations, had sexual intercourse with his friend and co-defendant, of Albanian origin. He said he did not have sexual intercourse with the girl, who he left with his co-accused and he went to watch television. Then, he said, he heard a commotion and saw his co-accused beating Helen.
PresidentHow?
Accused : With an iron He asked me to go and finish her off. I think he hit her first with a fist and then with the iron.
President : Who brought the knives?
Defendant : He did.
President: What did he do to her with the knives?
Defendant : He stabbed her in the neck and said "I'm going to kill you". Because he twisted one knife, he went and got another one.
President: Did he not want intercourse with both of them?
Defendant: He did.
President: If he wanted it, why did you hit her?
Defendant: He hit her
President: It is not possible that he did this alone, you must have helped him. A girl died excruciatingly, she martyred at your hands.
Defendant : I did not even touch her.
President : He could not have done it alone.
Defendant: He could have.
President: How was the strangulation done? By himself?
Defendant: Yes. I don't remember him strangling her.
Chairman : Sir, he could not have done it alone, Helen reacted...
Accused: He did not react...
Chairman: Did he wait for them to kill her?
Accused: Wait.
President: What did you do?
Defendant : I was just watching.
President: What were you watching?
Defendant: Beating her and I was telling him to stop.
President: You insist on not wanting to help yourself.
Defendant: He hit her with an iron and gave her a crochet hook. I just told him "stop it."
Chairman: Why didn't you take her to the hospital?
Defendant : If he told me about the hospital I would have taken her.
President: Why did you go there?
Defendant : He told me "Let's go finish her off."
President Why did you go there? Tell me why you took her there? Did you decide to finish her together?
Defendant: -I was not the only one helping him...
Chairman: Why did you take him there? Did you know this place? Why?
Defendant : He wanted us to go and finish it. It's not my fault. I didn't touch her. I was screaming for help.
President: What happened there?
Defendant: He took her halfway down the cliff. He hit her on the rocks.
President: You threw her into the sea?
Defendant: He threw her, he was alone. Then we went home, we cleaned it up, it was covered in blood. I wish I had helped more."
"To avoid reporting us to the police."
"I want to apologize to Helen's family. I knew her. We have destroyed three families. Theirs worse. I hope they will forgive me one day," the second defendant of Albanian origin said during his own apology. "Both of us were there, both of us did the wrong thing," the 23-year-old also claimed, repeating that his co-defendant hit the girl first.
"He told him 'come on, get on with it' and started hitting her, he grabbed her neck and squeezed her, at that moment she bit him, that's where I made the mistake, he told us I will report you to the police, I was holding her hands, he was hitting her legs, she could get up ...We were holding her hands and he went and brought two knives, one for me, so he wouldn't report us to the police," he also said and went on to say that the 24-year-old Rhodesian brought the iron and attacked the girl. "I told him you overdid it, leave it. I was afraid he would go to report us. I made a mistake and I supported my friend" He further claimed
Chairman: Did you punch her?
Accused: At first yes, I made a mistake
Chairman:Chairman: Who squeezed her neck?
Accused : He.... Then Helen fainted. I lost it, I panicked. I told him what do we do?
Continuing, the 23-year-old claimed that there was consensual sexual intercourse between them and the girl, he said, even adding that "we should not share a girl". "I want" he said- "to give this message to young guys, not to share a girlfriend, to respect her."
President:
Defendant:
Bad things happened hereDefendant: The worst. They will haunt me for a lifetime.
The trial will resume on May 12 with the closing arguments of the prosecuting attorney. Today, the parents of the unfortunate student were not in the audience, who have announced that they will join the court when it announces its verdict.
Source: Proto Thema
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