ATHENS – Greek police arrested the former artistic director of the country’s prestigious National Theater on Saturday night, who has been the target of allegations of sexual abuse and harassment that have plagued the Greek art world in recent weeks.
Dimitris Lignadis handed himself over at Athens headquarters shortly after being notified that a warrant had been issued for his arrest on a rape charge, his lawyer, Nikos Georgouleas, said in a text message. Mr. Georgouleas later said outside the police headquarters, where his client was being held, that his client denied the charges.
“Everything that is heard, he denies,” the lawyer said.
Mr. Lignadis is best known among the many directors and actors nominated in a shower of accusations that shocked the Greek art world. And the charges against him are among the most serious. He resigned from his post at the National Theater earlier this month after reports surfaced that he had sexually harassed young actors, which he vehemently denied. After his resignation, more reports emerged suggesting more serious abuse.
The upheaval in the art world of Greece came after an Olympic sailor, Sofia Bekatorou, accused a top sailing official last month of sexually abusing her in 1998. Her charges were the first high accusation of sexual assault and abuse of power in Greece since the #MeToo movement swept the world and dropped powerful figures in sports, the media and beyond.
Greece’s culture minister Lina Mendoni said on Friday she had asked the country’s high court to investigate a barrage of allegations of sexual assault, mainly the abuse of minors.
In her remarks, Mrs. Mendoni stressed the need for “catharsis” in the Greek cultural sector and said that sexual abuse, especially against minors, should not go unpunished.
The unfolding scandal has sparked a fierce political battle in Greece. Mendoni’s opponents blame her for being Mr. Lignadis was appointed to the National Theater in 2019. In defense of her ministry’s actions, Ms. Mendoni said that neither she nor the country’s prime minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Mr. as an actor.
“Mr Lignadis is a dangerous man, but it has now come to the fore,” the minister said. She said she was “deceived” by him.
“With deep acting talent, he tried to convince us that he had nothing to do with it all,” she said. Mendoni said, referring to the allegations of abuse.
Mitsotakis, the prime minister, also referred to the increasing number of allegations of sexual abuse and harassment in the Greek performing arts during a televised meeting with President Katerina Sakellaropoulou on Friday.
“The sexual abuse of minors is the most heinous version of this phenomenon,” he said. Mitsotakis said during the meeting. “In the public dialogue that has happily begun, we must reach the greatest possible political and social consensus if we are to tackle the problem,” he said.
Greek prosecutors are expected to begin summoning witnesses next week for their broader investigation into allegations of abuse and harassment in the Greek art world, starting with the head of the country’s actors’ association, Spyros Bibilas, who said the union was inundated with complaints by actors reporting alleged abuse.
In a statement issued on Saturday, following the arrest of Mr. Lignadis, issued, told the Greek Ministry of Justice that judicial authorities “will do whatever is necessary to ensure that everything comes to light in this very shady case and to bring about justice.”