Church expected to file on Avakoum scandal

The church’s investigative committee examining the sex and money laundering claims against two monks in the Osiou Avakoum monastery scandal is expected to file its findings to the ecclesiastical court on Friday.

According to the Cyprus News Agency, church sources confirmed that the six-member ecclesiastical court is due to receive the report by the investigative committee on Friday.

The same church sources said that the monks will then be given time to answer the charges in the investigative committee’s report.

A judge will be appointed by the ecclesiastical court, who will be a cleric and will draw up the indictment against the two monks.

The lawyers will then respond to the charges, and then the court is due to decide.

Following the verdict, the monks will have a chance to appeal the ruling.

The procedures at the church are expected to be finished a little before or after the August 15 holiday.

The monks involved in the scandal are also separate facing money laundering charges filed to the police. For this case three monks are being investigated Archimandrites Nektarios and Porfyrios, along with another monk from Avakoum. 

During the last hearing in late June, the two monks, Porfyrios and Avakoum, requested to replace Adriana Klaedes as their lawyer, to which the court said she would have to get the confirmation from Nektarios for a replacement to go ahead. Nektarios was already remanded in custody at the time of the hearing on 11 charges including money laundering, tax evasion, theft, forgery and interfering with court proceedings.

The court also decided that they would be postponing the examination of the request by the monks to unfreeze their assets.

The case was postponed to September 18, to allow time for a new defence lawyer to come in and for the prosecution to prepare.

The appeal is to have the €807,000 cash seized in an investigation into dealings at the monastery returned to them and have the bank accounts of the three monks unfrozen.

Klaedes had filed the initial appeal, which also demanded the return of their property.