The family from Crete complains that the mother has been trapped in Constantinople, awaiting a trial for a theft she claims she did not commit.

According to the complaint published by neakriti.gr, it all started a week ago in Istanbul when the woman and her 22-year-old daughter were buying headscarves to enter Hagia Sophia. Then, the woman complained that she accidentally put the shop owner’s mobile phone in her bag, resulting in the mother and daughter being arrested.

“We’re living the Midnight Express, to go on holiday for three days in one country and get this treatment? What did they do? It was an accident. If something bad happened, wouldn’t they see the sun again? I want my voice to be heard and my Greece to be mobilized,” Gabriel Tsuntanis tells Crete TV.

Mother and daughter claim they were taken to the detention center “with a sofa and two blankets thrown on the floor. Conditions not even for animals. My wife has been to the embassy four times. We have no help from anywhere. The embassy says we cannot intervene. But we don’t want them to intervene.”

The 22-year-old daughter spent three days in a hot spot until she was deported, without her mother knowing what had happened to her, according to the report.

Agathi Markopoulou told Crete TV that “they were pushing me and shouting ‘shut up’ all the time. No updates. Pushing. The worst thing was that I couldn’t communicate with anyone, no one spoke English. And I don’t mean ordinary people but the police, the judges, and my lawyer.”

Ms Markopoulou complains that despite being released she cannot return to Greece as she is awaiting trial which could be months away. Mr. Tsuntanis asks for intervention and for the court to be held, noting that the shopkeeper withdrew the lawsuit.