MEP voices rape charge fears

Rhodes attracts thousands of British tourists

A Scottish MEP has added his voice to concerns about the rape charges faced by a man being held in Greece.

Bill Miller, a Labour member of the European Parliament, said he was concerned that Tommy Rodger from Alloway, Ayrshire, will not get a fair trial.

He fears that the authorities in Greece want to make an example of his case.

Mr Rodger, 25, was holiday on the Greek island of Rhodes last July when he was arrested.

Mr Rodger is due to stand trial in April

He was charged with the alleged rape of a holiday rep.

Bail was refused and he was transferred to prison on the neighbouring island of Kos, where he is still being held.

He is due to stand trial on 7 April.

Mr Miller said that the evidence against him was not credible.

In recent times there have been concerns that a number of alleged rapes in Greek holiday resorts have not been properly investigated.

Show trial

Mr Miller fears the Greek authorities may now be using the case of Mr Rodger as an example to challenge that view.

"My main concern is that Tommy gets a fair trial," he told BBC Scotland.

"If this trial is scheduled for 7 April, as seems likely, and is taken forward in the way we have seen so far - with documents that Tommy has not been able to read because they have all been in Greek - then I don't think he is getting a fair trial.

I am prepared to make sure that if I don't get proper answers that there will be an incident every time they appear in parliament

Bill Miller

"My concern is that he is just being used and is an example for every other member state to say, 'If you are sending people here on holiday this is what is going to happen to you if you step out of line'."

Greece currently holds the presidency of the European parliament.

Mr Miller said that if he did not get satisfactory assurances about the case he would raise it regularly in the parliament to disrupt the Greek period of office.

"The one thing they do not want is an incident which is going to overshadow their presidency," he said.

"I am prepared to make sure that if I don't get proper answers that there will be an incident every time they appear in parliament."

Last week Fair Trials Abroad also expressed concern over Mr Rodger's case.

The Greek government has not commented on the case.