Another case of those that came to justice after the move meToo that was committed a year ago by victims sexual violence, opens today in the hall of the Mixed Court of Justice before whom the eminent actor is called to answer for grave acts Petros Filippidis.
The artist, who is known to the public for his iconic comic roles, is facing three charges of aggravated sexual assault against female colleagues, for which he was remanded in custody last July.
According to information from the defendant's side, the actor, who has been transferred to Korydallos prison from Tripoli prison, will not be in the courtroom today, while his defence, citing a serious health problem of the artist, will request the court to adjourn the trial for a few days.
About 10 witnesses are expected to be examined in the case, including three well-known actresses who were invited by the victims to introduce facts concerning the accused from the witness stand. They are Ms Katia Dandoulaki, Ms Evelyne Papoulia and Ms Lena Drosaki. The latter, like other colleagues of hers, such as Ms Anna Maria Papacharalambous, have denounced the defendant both publicly and before the disciplinary body of the SEI, for certain acts and conduct which, however, were not investigated in criminal proceedings because of statutes of limitation.
Petros Filippidis is on trial for one rape and two attempted rapes, acts for which he was denounced by three of his colleagues who testified in a prosecution investigation that the artist took advantage of his position of power as an actor, director and thespian. .
The same is stated in the verdict issued for the indictment of the actor by the Council of Plenary Magistrates which, adopting a similar prosecutorial proposal, ruled that the accused “taking advantage of his position of power, his well-known prestige and his reputation in the industry, being an actor, director, and a thespian, sought meetings with his victims on the occasion of obtaining resumes, taking advantage of their trust in him and their need to find a job...”
According to the indictment drawn up against him, the actor allegedly raped a colleague in 2008, an act that took place twice, and attempted to rape two other actresses in 2010 and 2014. In two of the cases the acts were committed inside his dressing room, where his colleagues were there for business reasons, while in the third case he attempted to rape the actress in his car, after a business meeting he had with the then unemployed, suffering actress.
The accused himself denies the accusations, claiming that the complainants are aiming at their personal promotion by slandering him.
However, the version relied on is not accepted by the judges who in indictment ruled that “there is no motive to defame the accused in order to gain publicity, as a long period of time has elapsed since the alleged offences were committed and if the victims” objective was indeed to gain publicity, they would have reported the offences in question at an earlier stage, when they were at the beginning of their careers".
In the opinion of the Judicial Council that judged the case, the accused “continued to act for a long period of time (2008 to 2014) against several victims” while he showed “particular cruelty, persistence and callousness during the attacks without being deterred by the strong resistance, the shouts, the cries and the injury of the victims during their attempt to escape”. At the same time, as emphasized in the verdict, “he was unrepentant and undeterred even after the commission of his acts, directing vulgar expressions and threats against his victims”, which demonstrates his “particular dangerousness as an element of his character and his constant tendency to commit related crimes”.
The trial will be held in a room right next to the room where the trial of Dimitris Lignadis, which continues today.
