Greek Ex-National Theatre Chief Arrested Over Rape Allegations: Report

Athens, Greece:

The former creative director of Greece’s nationwide theatre was arrested on Saturday over allegations of rape in opposition to minors, amid a belated #MeToo awakening.

Dimitris Lignadis, a famend actor and director, faces accusations of serial rape and indecent assault, in keeping with an arrest warrant.

Lignadis, 56, resigned on February 6 citing a “toxic climate of rumours, innuendo and leaks”. He is on the centre of quite a few allegations of sexual abuse of minors, in keeping with Greek media.

He was detained a day after Culture Minister Lina Mendoni stated she had requested the supreme courtroom prosecutor to look into rumours circulating about him and publicly described him as “a dangerous person”.

“We strongly pressured Lignadis to say if he was the one named in the rumours… there was a steady denial that the rumours were about him,” Mendoni stated. He deceived us, he deceived me,” she added.

Her comments angered Lignadis who shot back: “If I’m a harmful man in my private life or in my work, I feel we should always await this to be determined by the historical past and by different establishments.”

Lignadis’ lawyer, Nikos Georgouleas, said on Saturday his client rejected all the accusations and that he was arrested after presenting himself to authorities.

– ‘Cover-up’ –

A complaint was filed against Lignadis on Friday regarding the rape in 2010 of a 14-year old boy, according to ANA news agency.

The now 25-year-old plaintiff is the second person that has accused the director of rape, according to public ERT TV.

The prosecutor received another deposition late on Friday night, according to ANA.

This witness alleged that he was at the director’s home with friends under 18, where the director was plying them with alcohol and drugs and asking them to have group sex.

The Lignadis case has sparked a war of words between the government and opposition parties that have called for Mendoni’s resignation accusing her of foot dragging in the case.

The Syriza main opposition party leader, Alexis Tsipras, said on Friday that the Government attempted a “cover-up” adding that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis was “a pal of Lignadis”.

“It’s actually obscene that Mr Tsipras tries to reap the benefits of all these stunning revelations, giving them a party-related tone,” a statement issued by the Prime Minister’s office said late on Friday. Mr Mitsotakis “knew Lignadis just for his theatrical performances which he attended”, it added.

More than three years after the #MeToo movement surfaced in the United States, the code of silence in Greece was broken by a two-time Olympic sailing medallist, Sofia Bekatorou.

Bekatorou in December alleged she was 21 when she was subjected to “sexual harassment and abuse” by a senior federation member in his resort room, shortly after trials for the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Several different high-profile figures together with actors and college professors have additionally been embroiled in accusations of bullying, harassment and abuse in current weeks.

Giorgos Kimoulis, thought to be certainly one of Greece’s most interesting actors, has been faraway from this 12 months’s Athens and Epidaurus Festival after a flurry of bullying claims from actresses.

And one of many nation’s high comedians, Petros Filippidis, has been faraway from a well-liked state TV present after claims of lewd behaviour by actresses.

Under Greek legislation, nevertheless, few of the complaints will be prosecuted as they allegedly occurred too way back.

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