Stathis Panagiotopoulos was sentenced to five years in prison by the Three-member Court of Misdemeanors of Thessaloniki, who was found guilty of a felony for publishing material with private moments of his ex-partner, through the Internet, with intent to cause harm.
The court decided to convert the charge from a misdemeanor to a felony, as it was judged that the 60-year-old intended to harm the victim, while in terms of the sentence it decided to have a suspensive character until the Court of Appeal, and thus the 60-year-old remains out of prison with a cash guarantee of 10.000 euros. Restrictive conditions were imposed on the accused, including the ban on leaving the country, while no mitigating circumstances were granted to him.
Earlier, the prosecutor of the seat proposed the conversion of the charge to a felony.
The trial was held behind closed doors following a request submitted by the complainant's side and was accepted.
According to the claim of his defense counsel, the former TV presenter accepts his act, stressing that he did not act with the intention of harming the victim, while maintaining that it was "passion", the product of a diagnosed mental illness.
For the above case, he was sentenced last February to 5 years in prison, with a 3-year suspension, and a fine of 10.000 euros. However, the decision was appealed, including by the prosecutor, on the grounds that the case should be upgraded to a felony, as it was.
Two other cases with a similar criminal content are pending against the same defendant, for which he is being prosecuted as a felony.
Source: protothema.gr