There has been a lot of reaction to the order to release the well-known criminal lawyer, Apostolos Lytras, after his confession that he beat his wife, Sophia Polyzogopoulou.
Apostolos Lytras was released on parole, but the decision sparked developments in the judiciary, with president of the Supreme Court, Ioanna Klappa, and the prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Eftichia Adilini, ordering an urgent preliminary disciplinary investigation and asking for an investigation into whether there are disciplinary responsibilities against the investigator and the prosecutor who decided to release the criminal lawyer on probation despite the felony nature of the offence he was charged with and the particular gravity of the act he confessed to
At the same time, disciplinary proceedings for violation of criminal law against the lawyer Apostolos Lytras, were brought by the president of the Athens Bar Association Dimitris Vervesos.
It should be noted, however, that the decision interrogator and prosecutor who ruled that Apostolos Lytrasshould be released on parole for the wild beating his wife, is final. Nomic circles explain to protothema.gr that, despite the intervention of the Supreme Court there is no legal remedy to overturn the decision, so that the accused can be found remanded in custody.
The restrictive covenants
Regarding the restrictive conditions imposed on Apostolos Lytras to be released, the well-known criminal lawyer is required not to live in the same house with his wife, he was forbidden to approach her and while he is required to attend a special program of psychological support.
At the same time, officers also seized the two guns that the lawyer legally possessed, and his license to carry a firearm is expected to be taken away. In fact, a peripheral vehicle was found outside the house where he and his wife were staying.
According to reports, the “counted” in the decision of the interrogator and prosecutor to release the lawyer on the above conditions the victim’s testimony that the savage beating was a first and that nothing like it had ever happened before. At the same time, the victim was given the “panic button”, the special app for victims of domestic violence that allows women in danger to immediately alert the police. “I confessed my act, apologised to my wife who I adore and my three daughters. Unfortunately she was in a situation where this incident happened. And I still cannot give an explanation. As she testified I have never been violent. I will look to see how I can heal, seek help,” Apostolos Lytras said initially in his statement.
Watch video of his statement:
Continuing, the criminal lawyer said that “the act that was done is something that to me is unthinkable. I will seek psychological help, I cannot forgive myself for it. No one should be in this situation. You can see how sharp I am even for myself.”
“I apologise to the whole world, to Sophia and our daughters and from there on I want to believe that this matter will be overcome with proper help,” Apostolos Lytras concluded his statement.
The Chronicle
On Sunday night, the investigator reportedly visited the 37-year-old woman at home and took a statement from her, where the woman allegedly described being beaten by her husband.
The defendant’s ex-wife, his eldest daughter and their best man and lawyer testified as witnesses for the defendant’s defence.
It will be recalled that initially Apostolos Lytras had made the claim that his wife was badly injured when she fell down the stairs of their house.
The woman had not filed a complaint against him. According to information from the police report, the woman allegedly nodded in the affirmative when the doctor asked her if her husband had hit her. Also, again according to the police report, when the officers were alone with the woman in the hospital room, they asked her if she wanted a panic button placed on her cell phone and she reportedly responded in the affirmative.
The doctor’s role was crucial as he reported the case to the police. Since May 1 when the latest changes to the criminal code from the Ministry of Justice came into force, the doctor and all health professionals are legally obliged to report such incidents to the authorities without fear of any consequences, as the perpetrators have been made unpunishable. No one can sue them or bring a lawsuit against them.
The shocking testimony of the wife
Meanwhile, the nightmare she lived through at his hands Apostolos Lytra, the wife of the well-known criminal lawyer described in her testimony, Sophia Polyzogopoulou, who, in a state of terror, was begging him to stop and take her to a hospital, she said.
“I was swallowing the blood and I felt like I was drowning, he reveals at one point, in the statement broadcast by Alpha and the “TLive” show with Tatiana Stefanidou, while at another he says that “when I went up to the room in order to get the panic button that is connected to the alarm and rings directly to the police he caught me and he took it.”
“Over the years we’ve also been partners in the office. Yesterday 15/06/2024 we went together to a restaurant in Vouliagmeni in the southern suburbs with a large group. Sometime around 23.30 we argued for a trivial reason and specifically because I was looking at my mobile phone and my husband I don’t know what he thought but he made a scene of jealousy“ she reportedly said in her statement, stressing that they have been married since 2015, having had a daughter together.
“The truth is that I was talking to my sister to whom I had left my child to go out and who was sending me videos of my little one. She urgently asked me to leave or she would make a fuss in the shop. I, seeing him in a state of unreasonable rage, followed him and we left so as not to expose ourselves in front of our friends and the rest of the world. As soon as he started the car he started swearing at me and punched me first.” he goes on to say.
“He started running at breakneck speed and in a short distance in a secluded place on the right of the road where there was space he stopped the car and hit me in the face having his hands in a fist. Notably, all this time he had taken my mobile phone. The door was locked. I was screaming for help and begging him to stop while my face was covered in blood and I was swallowing it and felt like I was choking“ continues her chilling description.
“At one point I felt that I was losing consciousness. Apparently he saw me in this state and stopped. I was begging him to take me to a hospital and give me my mobile phone in order to alert my sister or one of my own. He was not responding to any of this even though I was telling him that I was going to die because I was bleeding too much! Even my clothes were covered in blood. He drove me home. When I went in with as much strength as I had because I was very dizzy and very battered I told him I was going to wash. When I went up to the room in order to get the panic button that is connected to the alarm and it rings directly to the police he beat me to it and he took it and kept holding my mobile phone.” says the wife of Apostolos Lytras.
“We entered the entrance of the Euroclinic together. I said that I wanted to be seen by a doctor in the emergency room because I have hurt my head. The doctor took me straight to the examination room alone and did not allow my husband to enter. A nurse came along. As soon as the nurse approached me I immediately told her that my husband had hit me. I was afraid of him too and I told the doctor. They told me that they would call the police… As indeed they did.” she continues to add: “I was given first aid. When the police officer since then, because I didn’t want my husband to know anything and leave and I didn’t know if I should trust him at that moment, I mainly didn’t want him to leave because I hadn’t alerted my sister about what had happened because he was holding my daughter. I told the police officer that I was a lawyer and I didn’t want to give a statement at that moment but I told him to take the doctor’s statement. I was going to be examined by a forensic doctor. Note that as soon as I told the doctor what had happened he took pictures with his cell phone. When the police arrived my husband gave my cell phone to the doctor who gave it to me so I took pictures with my cell phone which I will print and submit to you. The police officer insisted that I had to give a statement at that moment. I told him to write that I fell down the stairs and give me a panic button so that the police officers would realize what had happened and not my husband” she concludes her statement.
