Appeals court upholds sentences in Topaloudi case
An Athens appeals court on Friday upheld the convictions for two men over the rape and murder of 21-year-old Eleni Topaloudi on the southeastern Aegean island of Rhodes in 2018.
The victim’s father, Yiannis Topaloudis, broke down in tears when the verdict was read out. Her mother was not present at the courtroom.
In an unanimous vote delivered in May 2020, a lower court found the two defendants – a 24-year-old Greek man and a 22-year-old Albanian national – guilty of the two crimes and sentenced them both to life imprisonment and an additional 15 years each.
The body of Topaloudi was found in the sea by the coast guard on November 28. The court heard how the two men lured Topaloudi to one of their homes, where they raped and beat her before throwing her off a cliff into the sea.
