Two women who were accused of operating a brothel despite the ban that was in force due to the measures for the coronavirus were found not guilty by the Three-member Criminal Court of Thessaloniki.
As it turned out during the hearing, the two workers who were arrested on November 1, 2020, for the illegal operation of the brothel on Nikiforo Uranou Street in western Thessaloniki, had no intention of welcoming and serving customers, but had gone to the space to collect their personal belongings, as a day earlier the decision to suspend the operation of businesses had been announced.
The police officer of the White Tower Security Department testified that they went to the brothel in the evening, following a complaint, and it was found that only the two women were inside, wearing everyday clothes and there was no indication that they were expecting customers.
Additionally, the distinctive red light at the entrance was off, and the two women immediately opened it when they rang the bell, stating that they were there to clean up the place and get some of their clothes.
"I thought my mother was working as a secretary, until I found out she was on the dole"
The son of the woman testified as a defence witness.
The 29-year-old told the court that he believed that his mother worked as a secretary in a Thessaloniki Service and did not imagine that she worked in a brothel. He described the difficult times that passed between the day his mother divorced his father and when she lost her job during the financial crisis.
“My father left us when I was young. My mother worked as a philologist in a tutoring school and gave private lessons so that we could make ends meet. When the economic crisis broke out, she was fired from the school. When she got a job again, I thought she was a secretary. I found out about her real job when one afternoon the lawyer called me to tell me that my mother was on bail after a complaint that she was caught working at the brothel," said the 29-year-old, stressing that his mother did not want to tell him what work she was forced to do, as he would need to work alongside his studies.
"She wanted me to finish dental school and not have to work. Today I have finished my master's degree and I work in a dental office. My mother made sure that we did not miss anything despite the great difficulties. That day she told me that she went to the nursing home to get her things and not to work," he noted.
The accused temporary manager of the brothel testified that she was forced to do this job in order for her child to study. Speaking about the day of the arrest, she said she saw the officer on camera and had nothing to fear as they were just packing up, so she immediately opened the door.
“The police are here to protect us. I wasn't afraid of anything. I knew the shops would be closed and we had to get our things", she said.
It is noted that the second defendant did not appear in court and was represented by a lawyer. The two women were found not guilty by the court.
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