Former artistic director of the Thessaloniki Opera was sentenced to 8 years in prison for mismanagement, during the period 2008-2010. The Three-member Court of Criminal Appeals of Thessaloniki found him guilty of continuous disloyalty to the service at the expense of a Legal Entity under Public Law that is subsidized by the State, with the damage caused exceeding 400,000 euros. The appeal was decided to have a suspensive effect on the execution of the sentence.

The district attorney in his proposal described “the works and days” of the accused artistic director, focusing on very expensive shows, exorbitant fees of artists, lawyers and advertisers, personal expenses and various other expenses, such as PCs, air conditioners, call center, etc. a. “With his knowledge, he caused damage to the property of the Opera House (it was functioning at the time as an autonomous department of the KTHBE), as he acted during the two years he was appointed artistic director completely arbitrarily,” the public prosecutor stated, among other things, in his plea asking for his conviction.

Testifying as a witness, the former president of the Ephorate of the specific artistic organization, stated that from the performances he “staged”, the Opera was damaged in the amount of 2.5 million euros. “He wanted to be shown, he was not interested in public money”, he testified, stressing that “this was the reason why the Opera closed”, around the end of 2010 to the beginning of 2011.

The defendant himself did not appear in court nor was he represented by an attorney.