A 12-month prison sentence was imposed on the public television journalist by the Single Criminal Court of Athens for domestic threat.
The fine is convertible to ten euros per day (3,600 euros in total).
The defendant was imposed the restrictive condition of not approaching the victim, nor communicating with her in any way (physical, telephone, electronic) until the irrevocable judgment of the case,
The apology
The journalist’s current and former partners, who denounced him, were present at today’s trial.
In his testimony, the defendant said:
“The other day I was reporting on domestic violence. I am not the one who was introduced, I accepted cannibalism, I have been a professional journalist for 25 years. I have never been accused.”
The prosecutor asked for the journalist’s guilty plea for being accused of serial domestic threats, once and continuously.
“We consider that all the charges have been fully investigated. Today the issue is domestic threats. The court is independent and is not influenced by public opinion and other factors. The current partner receives a flood of calls and information about what happened before. Both victims (current partner and estranged spouse) felt terror and anxiety. We do not give weight to the defendant’s argument, as he tried more to justify himself than to talk about what he caused to these people. We believe that he should be found guilty of the charges,” the prosecutor emphasized.
What the complaining partner testified
The journalist, who until recently was the defendant’s partner, described in her statement what she experienced on Sunday night in her home.
“I saw two photos that his ex-wife had sent with his children. This started a discussion about where this relationship is going. I asked him to end it, because I don’t want this relationship to continue. Many times such tension and discussion were created. She got very upset, started cursing me, crazy, obsessive, started accusing me of having another relationship, started spitting on me. He slapped me, pushed me, poked me under the nose, slapped me, making me hit my chin and ear. I was in shock, he also pulled my hair, I put ice on my face.
In shock and pain, I called a friend and told him to see if he was downstairs, because he started calling me. Persistently. I pressed block and then he continued to call me on other apps, messenger and Viber. I was terrified.
As soon as I got to KAT, he texted me saying he was under my house. He was under my house for several hours and was bothering me.
Fearing that he would do the same and worse and send me to the hospital again, I called a taxi from my friend’s house to go to work… At five in the morning I received more than 80 calls. For me it was a threat, that he was under my house and told me to come up”, the witness testified.
The ex-wife
The journalist’s ex-wife also testified in court, saying that she went home on Monday at 11pm to see his children. When she refused, because it was too late, he told her, as she testified: “”don’t take my children, I’ll kill you””.
“I had strong transitions, I didn’t feel threatened. It was obvious he was nervous, he was affected by the incident with his partner and I didn’t want him to see the children and disturb them,” said the witness.
Criminal accusation of ERT journalist for domestic threat – A second case is opened against him