4.  The applicant was born in 1953 and lives in Thessaloniki. 5.  On 6 March 2000 he lodged an action (no. 2145/2000) with the civil courts seeking the annulment of his late uncle’s will, according to which certain property had been bequeathed to A.A. The applicant alleged that his late uncle had made A.A. his heir after being deceived and blackmailed by her. 6.  On 25 April 2000 A.A. brought criminal complaints against the applicant for malicious defamation, claiming that he had maliciously made false statements in action no. 2145/2000 causing damage to her reputation. 7.  On 29 January 2001 the applicant was prosecuted by the Athens First Instance Prosecutor and the case was remitted to the Athens First Instance Criminal Court. 8.  On 27 June 2005 the Athens First Instance Criminal Court convicted the applicant and sentenced him to a suspended prison sentence of eight months (judgment no. 46411/2005). 9.  On the same day the applicant lodged an appeal with the Athens Criminal Court of Appeal challenging the First Instance court’s findings and its evaluation of the evidence. 10.  By judgment dated 18 September 2006 the Court of Appeal reduced the applicant’s sentence to a suspended prison sentence of five months (judgment no. 6800/2006). 11. On 27 October 2006 the applicant lodged an appeal on points of law with the Court of Cassation. On 29 March 2007 he lodged additional grounds of appeal. The appeal on points of law was heard on 16 October 2007. 12.  By judgment dated 28 May 2008 the Court of Cassation rejected the applicant’s appeal (judgment no. 1396/2008). This judgment was finalised on 23 July 2008.