The legal case of alleged rape made by sailing Olympic medalist Sofia Bekatorou against a high-ranking official of the Federation 23 years ago was dismissed, as the statutory limitation had expired.
From the outset, there was little chance of the case moving forward, but the shocking revelations in January triggered a series of similar revelations in Greek society, especially in the entertainment industry.
Bekatorou, however, testified to prosecutor Nikos Stefanatos, who also conducted the relevant investigation into her case, referring to three more cases of sexual abuse of female athletes. One of them concerned with the abuse of an 11-year-old athlete by her 38-year-old sailing coach, which led to the arrest of the latter as there is no statutory limitation for offenses regarding minors.
Sofia Bekatorou had been summoned to testify before the prosecutor’s office, following her public complaint that she had been raped.
On January 20, 2021, she passed presented her testimony to the prosecutor which lasted for three hours. There, she repeated the complaint about the rape she suffered 23 years ago by the official, while she also spoke about a fellow athlete, who was raped at the age of 11 by her coach.
Sofia Bekatorou had spoken to Marie Claire, describing what happened to her. Later, in an online conference entitled “Start to Talk – Break the Silence – Speak, Do Not Tolerate” he described in detail what he experienced in 1998 in Palma de Mallorca.
