A previous Olympic cruising train has actually taken place test in Greece for supposedly raping a youngster in an instance that was driven by the nation’s #MeToo motion.
Triantafyllos Apostolou is implicated of sexually attacking an 11-year-old cruising federation professional athlete in 2010.
The 38-year-old showed up prior to an Athens criminal court on Wednesday and also has actually refuted the costs.
The instance versus him was released after a Greek cruising champ damaged the taboo to mention the misuse she experienced.
The discoveries made by Sofia Bekatorou– a 2004 Olympic gold champion– triggered Greece’s #MeToo motion in December 2020.
Bekatorou, that was called as a witness for the prosecution, did not talk to press reporters when she showed up in court. Various other females rallied in uniformity outside the court house, some standing up indicators stating “we teem with craze”.
#MeToo motivates brand-new actions in Greece
3 years after the #MeToo motion spread throughout the USA, much more Greek professional athletes and also females have actually additionally talked publically regarding sexual assault making use of #metisofia (#OnSofia’ sSide).
Bekatorou specified that– aged 21– she had actually been sexually attacked by an unknown elderly federation authorities in 1998, throughout prep work for the Sydney Olympic Gamings.
She additionally got grant share discoveries regarding Apostolou to district attorneys, bring about the most recent test.
” Sofia Bekatorou’s choice to strongly knock the sex-related physical violence she experienced” has actually aided “elevate recognition,” specified Greek Head of state Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
Last February, Greece’s federal government presented a collection of actions to deal with sexual assault, consisting of harder charges and also an expansion of the law of constraints.
An electronic coverage system and also sufferer assistance lines have actually been established to “damage the silence,” while permission courses have actually started at Greek public institutions.
‘ We should damage the silence’
The currently 21-year-old female claimed she had actually had numerous non-consensual sex-related experiences with her after that train, 18 years her elderly.
She additionally informed Greek tv that she had actually been “methodically raped” and also “literally and also vocally mistreated” by Aspostolou considering that the age of 9.
” It took me 10 years to comprehend that a youngster is not responsible,” the 21-year-old claimed, including that she “had the guts” to find onward after Bekatorou’s discoveries.
” We should damage the silence, penalize the abusers and also finish the stigmatisation of targets of sexual assault,” she claimed.
District attorneys state that Apostolou “made use of sex-related yet additionally emotional physical violence versus the small to make sure that she would certainly not expose her rape to her moms and dads”.
It is comprehended that the 21-year-old’s family members had actually at first determined not to press costs yet the female currently claims she wishes her very own instance will certainly offer various other targets.
Apostolou, that disclosed his identification in a meeting in January 2021, claimed the sex was consensual which he intended to wed the lady.
