There are different accounts of what happened in the early hours of New Year's Day at the hotel in Thessaloniki, where Georgia, 24, reported that she had been raped, according to the statements given by those involved. The 27-year-old V.L., who was arrested following the young woman’s complaint, puts forward the expected claim that Everything that happened was with her consent, even blaming her for suggesting that they sleep together. The others are trying to extricate themselves claiming that they don't know what happened when the 24-year-old left the party.
In his testimony, the defendant B.L. He states that he briefly met Georgia at the party in the hotel suite, but did not speak with her. He claims that after she left the party, M.P.—who had invited her—told him that «a young woman wanted to return to the room, and he gave me her phone number, telling me to call her so that the front desk would let her come up.».
«In fact, I called her from my personal phone at 4:10 and, speaking directly with her, asked if she was at the hotel entrance so that I could open the door to her room for her,» he states. He admits that he met her when she got out of the elevator with K.P. and that he initially accompanied her back to the room where the party was taking place. He claims that 6–7 people were still there and that the two of them talked for a while.
V.L. also claims that there was a romantic atmosphere between them, that she was the one who suggested they go to the room and sleep together, and that their sexual encounter had «her full consent at every stage.».
At the same time, he claims that his 24-year-old girlfriend asked him to stay and sleep in the room, and that after he went down to the lobby to grab a bite to eat with his friends, went up to another room and slept «because he didn’t want to disturb the girl.».
V.L. states, finally, that it did not occur to him «that the young woman in question was under the influence of alcohol or that she did anything during our sexual encounter without her full consent.».
The statements of the other parties involved
A different picture is painted by the K.P., who is alleged to be the organizer of the party. In his testimony, he claims that when he first met the 24-year-old woman along with V.L., as she arrived at the party, «it was obvious that she had been drinking.» He claims that he left the party early and that he saw V.L. again around 6 a.m., when they went downstairs to get something to eat. «I asked V. what happened with the girl, and he only told me that they had made contact and nothing else, since it was dawn and hotel staff were passing by us, so we couldn’t talk comfortably. When you showed me to the girl in question, she didn’t recognize me at all,» he states. When asked whether drugs were used by those present at the party, he replied: «No, there was nothing illegal.».
The defendant's brother, E.L. He states in his testimony that around 3 a.m., he saw the 24-year-old woman talking with V.L. on the couch, «and they had gotten quite close. »A little while later, I noticed that both of them were gone, though I didn’t know if they had left together,« he continues. As he reports, his brother returned alone about half an hour later »in good condition« and around 6 a.m.—when they were all together at the hotel reception to get something to eat— »we were informed that he had had sexual relations with the girl and that she was sleeping in his room, while she herself had booked a room at the hotel without my knowing when or which room.« He further claims that after breakfast, he slept in the room where the party took place, and V.L. »slept alone in my room.”.
The fourth person involved B.T. He claims that when he went to the party, the 24-year-old was «clearly under the influence of alcohol,» that she didn’t want to drink anything, and that when he offered to give her a bottle of water, she told him «All I want is to go to the room.» He further claims that she told him, «word for word: “Take me to the room and you’ll sleep with me.”» He maintains that he did not speak to her again, and that later he saw her talking with V.L. «They left the room together, and I saw my friend again at six in the morning at the hotel reception desk. I know, as my friend B. told me, that he had sexual relations with the girl, but I don’t know any other details,» he states in his testimony.
Finally, the 32-year-old manager of the café M.P., in his testimony, he admits that he was the one who invited the 24-year-old to the party. He claims that Georgia left the party with her friend around 3:30 a.m., «and a few minutes later, I left with my friend.» He also states that when he left the room, the 24-year-old told him she was going to leave by car with her friend. He also claims that he did not notice anyone in the room using drugs. «No, there was nothing illegal,» he testified.
Meanwhile, The 24-year-old is expected to give a new statement on Friday, the presence of a psychologist. As he stated her attorney, Athanasios Ziogas, has at its disposal all the chats and messages of the young woman and is intended to hand over to the prosecutor in order to further investigate the case.
As a reminder, samples for the 24-year-old’s toxicology tests have been sent to the Switzerland, which features specialized equipment for detecting specific narcotic substances and are expected within the next two weeks. Ath. Ziogas stated yesterday that the forensic medical report, based on the clinical examination, found bruises on the 24-year-old’s left and right thighs, in the first and fourth quadrants and the midline. He added that the medical examiner who signed does not rule out the possibility that indecent acts took place during sexual intercourse.
The 24-year-old woman's lawyer revealed that Two other women have contacted him and reported that they were raped in the same way.
