Greek ex-theatre director remanded over rape allegations

Prosecutors place Dimitris Lignadis under preventive detention after hearing his plea over child rape accusations.

Greek prosecutors have ordered a former director of the National Theatre be remanded after hearing his plea over child rape allegations, his lawyer said. Dimitris Lignadis resigned from his post this month and turned himself in to police on Saturday after an arrest warrant was issued; lawsuits were earlier filed against him by two men who say he raped them when they were children. The case, which follows other sexual abuse allegations in Greek cultural life and sports in recent weeks as part of a “Me Too” movement, prompted Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis to announce that his government will toughen laws to combat sexual abuse and protect children.