The Mix Jury of a Court of Appeal in Athens on Friday upheld the convictions for two men over the heinous crime of the rape and murder of 21-year-old university student Eleni Topaloudi on the island of Rhodes in 2018.
The body of Eleni Topaloudi was found in the sea by the Coast Guard on November 28.
The court heard again how the two men lured Topaloudi to one of their homes, where they raped and beat her before throwing the abused body of severely injured and dying young woman off a 10-meter cliff into the sea and left her to die.
The Mix Jury in both courts rejected any “mitigating circumstances” and ruled that they committed the rape and the premeditated murder in a state of calmness.
Eleni’s father, Giannnis Topaloudis, burst into tears when he heard the verdict on Friday, while the audience shouted “Bravo.”
There was reportedly short tension and strong reactions by the victim’s family when the lawyer of the defendant from Rhodes described the crime as “not a heinous” one. The parents loudly cursed and the presiding judge had them shortly remove from the court room, Skai TV reported.
“Partly, I feel justified, and partly, I don’t. They will sit for 20 years and come out. Changes in the Penal Code here and now. I will very much ask the Prime Minister to listen to us, the mothers of the murdered children. It can’t be that only the murderers have rights,” she underlined.
Father Giannis thanked by name each one of the regular members of the Court and the jurors for the decision they made, exhausting the possibility provided by law.
“The justification is momentary. It was the highest sentence that could be imposed. Such heinous crimes should be condemned at every court instance the defendants seek,” he said.
They will be free in their early 40s when life should mean life.
This is a rare case where dangerous animals in the shape of human form deserve to be removed from society swiftly for such a heinous crime. In cases like this there should be a quick and humane way to dispose of their existence and any reminder of them.
Rape and sadistic murder like this deserves the death penalty, not prison time. The poor beautiful little girl did not stand a chance against these brutal monsters. May they too experience the same physical violence in jail that they inflicted on their victim. These deranged and perverted animals do not deserve to ever walk free again – shoot them or hang them but don’t just jail them.