Petros Filippidis’ appeal to the Supreme Court was announced by his defense lawyer Michalis Dimitrakopoulos, who characterized the actor’s conviction for two attempted rapes as “erroneous” and lacking objective evidence. Specifically, in his statement, Mr. Dimitrakopoulos noted that “after four years, where Petros Filippidis’ presumption of innocence was pillaged by television and internet prosecutors,” the decision “keeps us alive.”
Read: Filippidis trial: Unanimously guilty of two attempted rapes – The first public appearance of one of the accusers and Elpida Ninou’s reaction
“We are here, we respect it, but the criminal procedure does not end here. We will certainly go to the Supreme Court and request the annulment of this specific decision, because we believe it is erroneous,” he emphasized.
Filippidis trial: “We are optimistic that in the end the Supreme Court verdict will be annulling”
According to Mr. Dimitrakopoulos, the case file’s evidence does not include a forensic medical report, DNA, toxicological tests, or lifting of communication confidentiality “but only some friends, who confirm the allegations, and in a contradictory manner.”
“The sentence that was issued, three years with suspension, is a sentence that proves that deep down the judges were not convinced of Mr. Filippidis’ guilt and they showed this with the doubtful sentence of three years with suspension,” he argued, saying that the judges could not withstand the weight “of the violations by internet prosecutors.”
“We are optimistic that in the end the Supreme Court verdict will be annulling and will return again to the court of appeal until final vindication” concluded Mr. Dimitrakopoulos.
Detailed statement by Michalis Dimitrakopoulos
“After four years, where Petros Filippidis’ presumption of innocence was pillaged by television and internet prosecutors, who did nothing but influence public opinion that he is guilty – guilty Petros Filippidis, the Court’s decision keeps us alive.
We are here, we respect it, but the criminal procedure does not end here. We will certainly go to the Supreme Court and request the annulment of this specific decision, because we believe it is erroneous. The evidence of this case file is weak. There are no objective means of proof. There is no forensic medical report. There is no DNA. There are no toxicological tests. There is no lifting of communication confidentiality. There is nothing, but only some friends, who confirm the allegations, and in a contradictory manner, as described by the prosecutor Andreas Karaflos.
These contradictions, which are not insignificant, but are systematic contradictions I would say, contradictions that come into direct conflict with common logic, certainly create doubts. Mr. Andreas Karaflos correctly said innocent. The court, however, did not transform these doubts into an acquittal decision. But the sentence that was issued, three years with suspension, is a sentence that proves that deep down the judges were not convinced of Mr. Filippidis’ guilt and they showed this with the doubtful sentence of three years with suspension.
The struggle, I repeat, the legal struggle continues. I would say that under the weight of the violations by internet prosecutors, the judges could not withstand this weight, in my opinion. And for this reason, instead of acquitting, they imposed, I repeat, a sentence of doubts. Nevertheless, I want to publicly congratulate the Presiding Judge of Appeals, who was the regular judge all these months, who conducted the procedure procedurally in an excellent way. Just as I want to congratulate the Deputy Presiding Judge of Appeals, Ms. Kouskouki, who although she did not acquit our client, imposed a sentence corresponding and proportionate to what she convicted him of.
Because these rapes, the public should know, are unprecedented. There is no rape in the criminal code, there is no rapist, who tries to threaten and coerce, with supposed violence, to perform oral sex and open the car door or open the dressing room door. Such rapists do not exist. Petros Filippidis, we are convinced, is not a rapist and it will be proven with the Supreme Court decision. Petros Filippidis respects, honors women in both words and deeds.
Nevertheless, I repeat, it is a feat for my colleagues and I want to publicly thank Ms. Pakirtdou and Ms. Boboli for the struggle we made all these years. And we endured and stood upright. And fortunately it is a decision that gives Petros Filippidis the opportunity to return to his family and give his fight still before the Supreme Court. We are optimistic that in the end the Supreme Court verdict will be annulling and will return again to the court of appeal until final vindication.”
