Statute of limitations

There appears to be no end to the legal saga involving troubled Greek jewelry company Folli Follie as the trial that had been scheduled to resume on Monday was again postponed until September 14.

A well-known drummer who had previously played with popular Greek bands was found guilty by the Athens Mixed Jury Court in one of four cases of sexual abuse of underage girls filed against him.

The court handed him a four-year suspended sentenced, acknowledging two mitigating factors, as requested by his defense, of previous lawful life and good behavior following the offense.

With the risk that the statute of limitations will expire for a number of offenses related to the criminal case of troubled jewelry maker Folli Follie looming, the trial is expected to finally take place in June as the Athens Bar Association is poised to grant permission for lawyers to attend the proceedings.

We see how the prosecutor's office headed by Ivan Geshev does not allow the start of any trial against the former government, Boyko Rashkov, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, told BNR.

Accusations of rape were levelled at a prominent Greek actor and director on Monday, becoming the latest in a string of recent allegations of sexual misconduct in the acting and sporting worlds.

Veteran Olympic champion Sophia Bekatorou gave evidence for a new case of sexual abuse involving another female athlete during her three-hour deposition before a prosecutor on Wednesday, according to sources.

President Katerina Sakellaropoulou (r) received veteran Olympian Sofia Bekatorou (l) at the Presidential Mansion Monday, after the sailing champion last week revealed that she had been sexually abused by a federation official in 1998. Sakellaropoulou expressed her support to Bekatorou for "breaking the silence" in Greece regarding the sexual abuse of women.

Olympic Gold medalist Sofia Bekatorou was invited by a prosecutor in Athens to give her deposition on Wednesday morning after she revealed that she had been raped by a senior member of Greece's sailing federation when she was preparing for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

The Greek government has opted for a mass statute of limitations for relatively minor offenses in order to deal with the backlog burdening criminal courts, which remain closed since March due to the lockdown that was implemented to contain the coronavirus pandemic.

Greece's judicial authorities are expected on Thursday to announce the nationwide suspension of most trails at the country's courts as part of a crackdown on the spread of the highly infectious Covid-19 coronavirus.

The measure will be implemented with a legal act and will affect trials across the board.