The Nicosia Permanent Criminal Court decided on Tuesday morning to postpone the proceedings regarding the case concerning the financial aspect of the Holy Monastery of St. Avvakum, with the case being rescheduled for Wednesday, May 14 for the purposes of the two deposed Archimandrites of the Holy Monastery of St. Avvakum, Nektarios and Porphyrios, responding to the charges.
During today's hearing, the defendants' lawyer stated before the court that the defendants are not in a position to respond to the indictment as previously set, since, as he claimed, a significant part of the evidentiary material has not been delivered to the defense, and in particular a report dated 6/9/2024, which, as he stated, includes findings on the basis of which part of the charges were substantiated.
The spokesperson for the Prosecuting Authority said that her colleague handling the case had not mentioned anything relevant, adding that since the defendants are unable to respond, she is requesting a few days to determine whether the delivery of the said evidentiary material is pending.
Given the above, the Court approved for the last time, as it emphasized, the request for postponement and set the next hearing for May 14 at 09:00, for a response to the charges.
She added that the defendants will be present under the same bail conditions, while regarding the unexecuted arrest warrant for monk Nektarios, which had been issued with a suspension for the purposes of ensuring his presence in the proceedings, the president of the court stated that it is being canceled.
The two accused monks face charges, including - among others - conspiracy to defraud, committing a felony, unlawful possession of property in excess of 63 thousand euros, theft by proxy, forgery, circulation of a forgery, theft, money laundering, false tax return and interference in a judicial proceeding.
It is noted that the presumption of innocence applies to all defendants, until proven guilty by the court, beyond all reasonable doubt.
Source: KYPE
