Editorial Ta Nea: Swift justice

The first trial dealing with the issues of the #ΜeΤoo movement in Greece started on 12 January and involved a sailing coach.

The verdict was delivered on 14 June.

The defendant was convicted of sexual abuse of the underaged girl but was acquitted of the charge of repeated rape.

If one considers that Olympics sailing gold medalist Sofia Bekatorou had to twice charge that she was sexually assaulted before the movement took off in Greece, and if one takes into account the huge caseload of judges, which leads to major delays in the meting out of justice, the aforementioned verdict was delivered relatively swiftly by Greek standards.

However, that does not mean that it was speedily adjudicated when compared to other European countries.

Given the fact that there are other such cases waiting to be tried in the court system, it is necessary for them to be adjudicated as fast as possible, so that there is no room for shadows and doubts surrounding the cases and the parties to fester.

Justice delayed is justice denied, and that diminishes the trust of citizens in the judiciary.

Unfortunately, today, justly or unjustly, a large segment of Greek society appears to be full of doubts about how the judicial branch of government performs its function.

The most effective way to eradicate such shadows is for courts to do their job more swiftly.