Litras case – Polyzogopoulous memorandum: “Release my ex-husband from prison”

More than two months after well-known lawyer Apostolos Litras was jailed for severely abusing his wife Sofia Polyzogopoulou, tensions between the former prominent lawyer couple appear to be easing for the benefit of their young daughter.

Sofia Polyzogopoulou, who according to a forensic report experienced a “nightmare” of physical abuse at the hands of her former partner, has submitted a memorandum to the Athens Criminal Court in which she argues for replacing Apostolos Litras' pre-trial detention with a conditional release, giving priority to the child's welfare and the need for her to be able to communicate with her father.

For our daughter

While the 37-year-old attorney continues to support the prosecution against her estranged husband, she is now focusing on their daughter. As her memorandum states: “The continuation of my estranged husband's pretrial detention will undoubtedly have a negative impact on the mental health of our daughter, whose protection is my top priority.”

She therefore asks the judges to release the accused lawyer from custody and makes it clear that she does not withdraw the charges brought against him by the public prosecutor based on her own statements and other evidence relating to the serious mistreatment she suffered.

Polyzogopoulou reportedly submitted the memorandum to the Judicial Council shortly after mid-August, informing the judges – supporting her request not to extend his detention – that both she and her husband are making every effort to normalise their relationship, “solely with a view to our daughter and protecting her wellbeing”.

In fact, she stresses, she and Apostolos Litras agreed in a joint statement before the Athens Single Court of First Instance at the end of July that she would be granted sole custody of her child. They also regulated the visiting hours for the accused lawyer so that he could see their daughter. This agreement was accepted with an interim injunction at the beginning of August. Their aim is for the child to maintain daily contact with his father and not be cut off from him.

However, Polyzogopoulou makes it clear that she has no intention of withdrawing her support for the prosecution of Apostolos Litras, stressing that everything she has testified about her abuse “reflects the complete and absolute truth.” She also states that she will repeat these statements before any competent authority if requested to do so. However, as stated in her memorandum, at this time, her daughter's well-being is more important to her than her dispute with her 52-year-old estranged husband. Both she and the accused are working to improve their relationship for the benefit of their daughter.

In these circumstances, Polyzogopoulou argues that extending Litras' pre-trial detention would harm her child's mental state. To prevent this, she considers that he should be released under the restrictive conditions set out in Article 18 of Law 3500/2006. In her conclusion, she also notes that Litras' two older daughters from his first marriage need their father, as they are understandably in a poor mental state given the situation.

The timeline

The investigation into this high-profile domestic violence case has now been completed and the Judicial Council will soon take a decision on the trial of Apostolos Litras and whether to continue his pre-trial detention. Polyzogopoulou submitted her memorandum to the Council, which is responsible for making these decisions.

Meanwhile, the prosecutor in charge of the case requested on Saturday that Apostolos Litras be charged with assault rather than aggravated assault, as he was originally charged with.