“I am innocent, I beg you, help me,” the Greek 19-year-old woman who was arrested in Hong Kong for smuggling 2.6 kg of cocaine told the Consul General Ioannis Maloukos.
The Consul General in Hong Kong and her lawyer Sakis Kehagioglou are the only persons to whom the Greek woman has been in contact with since her arrest, an Alpha television report said.
“I started my trip to Hong Kong from Athens with a transit stop to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. There, during the time I stayed in the city before the flight to Hong Kong, I bought a backpack from a store,” the woman told the consul and her lawyer, according to the Alpha report.
“Someone must have put in my bag without me knowing the package that the authorities found. I can not remember when and how it happened. All I can tell you is one thing: Help me! I beg you, help me! Tell my parents that I am innocent,” the 19-year-old said.
According to her lawyer, the woman said that a friend of hers was to go to Hong Kong with her but on a later date because of certain obligations he had. Kehagioglou told Alpha he believes that his client is the victim of a set-up and she was carrying the cocaine without her knowledge. He said that because of her age and naivety, someone has exploited her.
The lawyer said he seeks a law firm in Hong Kong to collaborate on her defense. He also said that he has contacted the Greek Orthodox Metropolitan of Hong Kong and South-East Asia Nektarios for help.
“I hope and wish that the Hong Kong judicial authorities will take all these mitigating circumstances into account before imposing the crushing penalties dictated by their legislation,” Kehagioglou said.
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