SHARE
COPY LINK

GREECE

Swede acquitted over Greece ‘fake rape’ claim

A Swedish woman accused of making false rape accusations while on holiday in Greece was acquitted of defamation charges on Thursday by a Greek court.

Swede acquitted over Greece 'fake rape' claim
The alleged rape took place in the Greek island of Samos

“She is extremely happy and relieved. I’m naturally very happy as well,” Gunilla von Wachenfeldt, lawyer for Swedish “Anna” told the TT news agency following the court’s decision.

The defamation trial of Anna, accused of making false rape accusations after reporting an alleged rape to the police while on holiday, was held on Thursday in Greece.

Ahead of the trial, Anna said she would wait to hear about the trial’s outcome from her home in Sweden despite being summoned by the Greek court. She feared what may have happened if she had gone to Greece to participate in the trial.

“I think I would be locked up. As they try to make a victim into a perpetrator I think they are capable of anything,” said Anna to TV4 News.

The episode began back in 2008, when Anna went on holiday to the Greek island of Samos. On her last night she claimed to have been brutally raped and beaten, according to Sweden’s TV4.

After reporting the crime to authorities in Greece, she then went back to Sweden where she underwent a medical examination.

The Swedish doctor found evidence corroborating her story but despite the findings of the Swedish medical team being forwarded to Greece, Anna learned in 2009 that the prosecutor on Samos would not pursue the case any further.

One of the reasons given for the case having been dropped was that it had become common for holidaying women, especially Scandinavians, to say that they had been raped during their stay in Greece, in order to claim insurance money upon their return.

Although shocked by what she had been told, Anna resigned to trying to move on with her life.

However, some time afterwards she was contacted by a Greek public prosecution office, which informed her that she was being countersued for making false rape accusations.

The case has received a lot of attention in Sweden’s legal circles, as it is felt it has been handled in a strange way by the Greek authorities.

Anna’s lawyer said ahead of the trial that she was surprised that the case has made it to court.

“When I have been in contact with the Greek authorities it has seemed as if they realize that charging Anna goes against the right of a fair trial, but they still choose to pursue the case, which I find odd,” von Wachenfeldt said to TV4.

Today, Anna is suffering from stress related illness and is partially on sickness benefits, which she clams to be caused by her ordeal in Greece.

“Even if I try to not think about what happened, my body remembers,” Anna said to TV4 News.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

ANGELA MERKEL

German war crime payments debated in Greece

Greece's parliament on Wednesday began a debate on a resolution to demand the payment of German war crime reparations, an issue long disputed by Berlin.

German war crime payments debated in Greece
Angela Merkel and Alexis Tsipras in Greece in January. Photo: DPA

“These demands are always active. They were never set aside by Greece,” parliament chairman Nikos Voutsis told reporters this week.

The chamber is expected to approve later Wednesday, with cross-party support, a resolution calling on the government of Premier Alexis Tsipras “to take all the necessary diplomatic and legal steps to claim and fully satisfy all the demands of the Greek state stemming from World War I and World War II”.

A parliamentary committee last year determined that Germany owes Greece at least €270 billion for World War I damages and looting, atrocities and a forced loan during the Nazi occupation in World War II.

Reclaiming war reparations has been a campaign pledge by Tsipras since 2015. He faces multiple electoral challenges this year, with his party trailing in polls.

'Historical responsibility'

During a visit to Greece in January, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said her country “recognised its historical responsibility.”

SEE ALSO: Merkel says Germany recognizes responsibility for Nazi war crimes in Greece

“We recognize our historical responsibility. We know how much suffering we, as Germany in the time of Nazism, have brought to Greece,” she said.

In 2014, ex-president Joachim Gauck had also sought public forgiveness in the name of Germany from relatives of those murdered by the Nazis in the mountains of northern Greece.

But when it comes to actual payments, the German government has always insisted that the issue was settled in 1960 in a deal with several European governments.

Germany's government spokesman Steffen Seibert reiterated Wednesday that “the reparation issue is judicially and politically settled”. 

He said Berlin is doing “everything it can so Greece and Germany maintain good relations as friends and partners”. 

During the Greek economic crisis, there was further tension in Athens over draconian EU austerity and bailout terms seen to be imposed by Berlin hardliners.

Relations have improved over the last three years after Tsipras' government endorsed conditions linked to satisfying its creditors.

Tsipras and Merkel also worked closely on finding common ground on migration and Balkans security.

SHOW COMMENTS