Supreme Court seeks probe into release of child rapist turned murderer

Supreme Court President Ioanna Klapa has ordered a probe into why the 37-year-old man who murdered an 11-year-old girl in Ilia in the western Peloponnese, southern Greece, on Sunday never served the nine-year jail sentence he was given four years ago for rape.

The move came after it emerged that the sentence of the defendant, a member of Roma community of the Pyrgos area, had been suspended and that he had been allowed to walk free with restrictive conditions.

The investigation includes a disciplinary review of the three judges and the prosecutor who issued the decision.

His trial and sentencing took place in 2020. In 2022, his trial at the Patra Court of Appeal was adjourned as he arrived without a lawyer.

A new trial set for mid-February 2024 was postponed again for 2025 as it coincided with an abstention by lawyers.