The trial in the second degree of the former head of the National Theatre, Dimitris Lignadis, sentenced at first instance to 12 years in prison for the rape of two boys in 2015, has been postponed to September 9, 2024. The artist has been acquitted of the charges for two other rapes, a 16-year-old and a 18 years old, and is free on probation granted by the court.

The trial before the Joint Jury Court of Appeal, which was postponed today due to the abstention of the lawyers, will be conducted with an indictment that will include not only the two cases for which he was convicted but also one of the two acquittals on appeal by the Appellate prosecutor.

Specifically, after the issuance of the first-instance decision, the Appellate Prosecutor’s Office decided that the case of the 16-year-old should be reviewed, but also that the MoE should also judge whether the sentence imposed on the artist for the two cases in 2015 is low, as the Appellate Prosecutor who filed the appeal considered.

So, Dimitris Lignadis will be tried at the appeals court with all possibilities open as to his criminal treatment.

Dimitris Lignadis, after 17 months of temporary detention, was sentenced in July 2022, as he was found guilty by a majority (4 to 3) of the rapes of two 17-year-olds, in Athens and Epidaurus, in 2015.

The court unanimously acquitted the artist of the rape of an adult in 2018 and by a majority (5 to 2) and for the rape of a 16-year-old minor in 2011. It is noted that the alleged victim of the 2018 case had not appeared in court to testify.