“I want to stand in front of her, have her look me in the eyes just like she did when she threw the vitriol at me, and have her explain to me what I did to her.”
Sixteen months after the attack with corrosive liquid which it accepted, the Ioanna Paliospyrou She states that, although it is extremely difficult for her for practical and emotional reasons, she will be in the Mixed Jury Courtroom today to face her 37-year-old fellow townswoman, who, with an act of extreme violence, changed her life.
The trial of the 37-year-old woman who, in May 2020, attacked Ioanna Paliospyrou with a corrosive liquid, is expected to begin today, with the aim of concluding it soon, as the defendant has already spent 15 months in pretrial detention, and the 18-month limit does not allow for delays in the judges’ verdict.
The trial of this case, which has shocked the public, is drawing enormous interest, as the victim has suffered extremely serious injuries and, having survived the initial life-threatening phase, she is now required, after having already undergone nine surgeries, to live under special conditions and face a series of upcoming procedures. In recent statements, she spoke about the functional and other challenges she faces: ”I have a very large, inflexible graft that prevents me from holding my head upright, looking up, or turning to the right. And, of course, whatever cosmetic surgeries are necessary will follow. ”I can leave the house under certain conditions, but the mask severely restricts my movements; I have to constantly avoid the sun, and of course, my appearance constantly draws people’s attention,” she said, adding, however, that no matter how difficult it is for her, she will appear in court. .
However, legal experts are also taking an interest in the case, as the judges are called upon to rule on whether the decision of their colleagues—the investigating judge, the prosecutor, and the members of the Council who referred the case for attempted murder while in a calm state of mind the 37-year-old woman—is correct, or whether they will adopt the defendant’s position that, regardless of the victim’s injuries, her act was not intended to kill Ioanna and, therefore, a more lenient criminal classification should be applied to the assault.
The defendant was arrested in June 2020 and, when called upon to defend herself, remained silent, refusing to provide the investigating authorities with any response regarding the charges against her, which were supported by a mountain of overwhelming evidence. The 37-year-old maintained her silence for 11 months.
She herself wanted to provide some explanations to the investigating judge in April 2021, at which time, in a supplementary statement, she confessed that she had attacked with vitriol to Ioanna, emphasizing that she had not intended to kill her. Apologizing, the 37-year-old attributed her heinous act to an obsession she had with the victim, whom she believed was involved in a serious personal problem of hers, which she did not specify to the investigating judge.
The 37-year-old’s confession does not appear to have changed the opinion of the judges who heard the case. Last May, the Misdemeanor Court referred the defendant for attempted murder, fully endorsing the prosecutor’s recommendation, which provided a legal rebuttal to the defendant’s claim that she should be tried for bodily injury: “She wanted to kill her,” the prosecutor stated, citing numerous pieces of evidence, most notably the amount of liquid the defendant poured on Ioanna. .
In addition to the victim herself, the court is expected to hear testimony from 30 to 40 witnesses, including the doctors who have been treating Ioanna for several months.
A large police presence has been deployed for the trial, and all health and safety measures will be strictly enforced both inside and outside the courtroom.
