<p>ATHENS, Greece — The former director of Greece’s National Theatre appeared Wednesday before a public prosecutor to respond to child abuse allegations in a case that has triggered a major political dispute and a debate on reforms needed to prosecute sex crimes. </p>
<p>The 56-year-old suspect was taken into police custody on Saturday and resigned his position as the theatre’s artistic director earlier this month. </p>
<p>Defense lawyer Alexis Kougias denied the charges on behalf of his client and formally requested that the case be dismissed. He said the court granted a 24-hour extension to present a defense.</p>
<p>Under Greek law, suspects are not named before trial unless exceptions are made to serve the public interest or they voluntarily identify themselves to assist their defense. </p>
<p>Kougias has identified his client as prominent Greek actor-director Dimitris Lignadis, who was escorted in handcuffs by police to the court building and made no remarks to reporters outside Wednesday. </p>
<p>Opposition parties argue that the culture minister in Greece’s center-right government responded too slowly to the allegations and should be removed. </p>
<p>Multiple cases of alleged sexual misconduct and abuse have been made public since Greek Olympic sailing champion <a href="https://apnews.com/article/sailing-sofia-athens-sexual-assault-2020-tokyo-olympics-830e7966188c730d1dbf42846a84d669">Sofia Bekatorou</a> alleged that she had been sexually assaulted by a sailing federation official in 1998. </p>
<p>Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has promised to outline proposed legal changes in parliament on Thursday to make it easier for victims of sexual assault to report the crimes.</p>
