Greek news website Documento has published an intervention by journalist Stelios Orphanides, who said he was the first reporter “Sandy” approached to allege rape and a corruption ring in Cyprus, and who urged her to leave the country for her safety.
Philenews said it was reproducing the intervention as part of its journalistic coverage of a case that has shaken Cyprus, without adopting the claims or allegations made against any of those said to be involved, as all aspects remain under investigation.
In the article, Orphanides said “Sandy” had serious reasons not to trust the Cypriot state. He wrote that she had told him she went at least twice to report the man she alleged raped her when she was 13 and later trafficked her in Cyprus and abroad, but was turned away both times.
He said that when she contacted him in 2020 through her lawyer, hoping publicity would help her break free from what he described as 26 years of abuse, his first priority was her safety. He wrote that they remained in almost daily contact for about six months through interviews and calls, and that he came to view her as an intelligent and educated woman marked by traumatic experiences.
According to Orphanides, the two drew up a secret escape plan for her to leave Cyprus via Greece and travel to Germany, where she would seek shelter in accommodation for victims of sexual and domestic violence. He said that after arriving there with her child and dog, she sent messages describing relief and happiness, and later shared positive first impressions of the shelter.
He wrote that while she was at the shelter she later received phone calls and messages from the man she had identified as her alleged abuser, despite security measures they had agreed on. About a month later, he said, she became reluctant to cooperate and eventually warned him, on the advice of what he said were her “legal advisers”, not to publish material related to her case.
Orphanides said contact between them faded and stopped completely in July 2021, before resuming briefly in September 2022, when she told him she was living in Cyprus again and had given birth to a child conceived shortly before leaving the island with the man she had identified as her alleged abuser.
He said he later met journalist Makarios Drousiotis in Athens in 2023 and, without giving details, told him he had been investigating the case of a woman who alleged she had been raped as a child by a former judge. According to Orphanides, Drousiotis told him he too was in contact with a woman who, as he recalled, was working at the Presidential Palace, and the two concluded they were speaking about the same person.
Orphanides said he decided to intervene publicly after Drousiotis published his report on March 31, arguing that an effort had since been made to cast doubt on the revelations and on Drousiotis’ wider credibility. He also referred to the search of the home and office of “Sandy’s” lawyer, Nicos Clerides.
He wrote that the fact “Sandy” contacted Drousiotis in 2023 after the publication of his books showed she had intended for her case to be made public. He also argued that the reaction of state institutions, which he said had turned against those publicising the claims rather than moving to protect her, led him to conclude that she was still being blackmailed and intimidated and that her life remained at risk.
Orphanides said he knew “Sandy”, had listened to her and had witnessed her daily anxiety, fears, hopes, joy and sadness over a period of months. He wrote that he doubted she was now in a position to make decisions freely for herself and her children after returning, as he put it, to an abusive environment.
In the closing passage of the article, Orphanides directly appealed to her to think of herself and her children and urged her to leave Cyprus immediately.
(information from documento.gr)
