KOS (Dagbladet): Two men occupy the courtroom in the courthouse on the island of Kos in Greece on Monday, accused of having raped Norwegian “Ida” during a holiday trip. The incident the Norwegian woman reported to the Norwegian police when she returned home is said to have taken place during a girl’s trip to the tourist magnet Rhodes in July 2017.
The two men, for their part, deny criminal guilt. Both deny that they have committed the rape, and that they have met the Norwegian woman in her 30s.
– My clients are innocent. The court will see that the woman who claims she was raped by them, she is lying. I can assure you that we will resolve this in court, because it is my clients who are the victims in this case, the men’s defender, lawyer Stelios Alexandris, told Dagbladet before the weekend.
DEFENDANT: The accused man on his way into the courtroom on Kos. Photo Nina Hansen / Dagbladet
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– Innocent
Wearing a black suit, one of the two defendants took to the bench on Monday. He has in interrogation explained that he has never met “Ida” before.
On the way into the courtroom, the accused did not want to comment on the charges or the Norwegian woman’s version of the case prior to the trial.
– But I can assure you that innocent men do not end up in prison, says the man accused of rape.
– I’m terrified
Dagbladet has previously interviewed the Norwegian woman in her 30s regarding the incident that is said to have taken place in Rhodes in 2017. In the interview, she tells in detail about how she met the two defendants at a nightclub in Rhodes.
According to her, the evening must have ended with a gross rape.
– When I first woke up, the rape was underway. I was naked. I remember beatings, spitting and suffocation. It felt like the only thing that was there was my body. I said no again and again. I tried to resist, but they were too strong. I did not have a chance. Fearing that they would hurt me more, I finally gave up, she said in the interview.
HOPE: “Ida” hopes she can help other women who have been raped by coming forward with their story. Photo: Private
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“Ida” herself hopes that a final sentence will now be put in place for the legal process, four years after the night that changed her life forever.
– It will be absolutely awful to appear in court. I’m terrified. But if this can help make a difference, then it’s worth it. I am one of the few who have had the opportunity to appear in a trial and tell about that night in my own words. Many girls who are abused do not even get that opportunity, she told Dagbladet before the trial.
In 2019, she received compensation for victims of violence, despite the fact that there was no verdict in Greece.
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