A woman testified before the Larnaca District Court on Monday, accusing the former Metropolitan of Kiti, Chrysostomos, 84, of indecent assault.
She was a minor at the time of the alleged offense, that is, in 1981 inside the Diocese.
In her testimony, the complainant gave details of what happened in the autumn of 1981 immediately after the death of her father and noted that at the urging of friends of the family, she visited the then Metropolitan to receive financial assistance from an orphanage.
As she testified in Court, the then Metropolitan of Kiti started harassing her. He testified that he arranged meetings on Saturday afternoons, apparently to miss the staff of the Diocese, and that he welcomed her to his office after opening the door of the Diocese.
The complainant also told the Court that during the meetings, she had the intuition that something was wrong and did not want to go again, however, other meetings followed, culminating in the day when, as she claimed, the Metropolitan attacked her indecently.
She also noted that in a state of panic, a walker went to her house and informed her mother about it. He testified that he had been tortured ever since, as he said, because he did not denounce the then Metropolitan and finally decided to do so when he saw the light of day with another complaint against him.
The complainant was examined by the representative of the General Prosecutor's Office. The interrogation is expected to begin tomorrow by Michalis Pikis, defense attorney of the former Metropolitan of Kiti.
It is recalled that on September 23, 2021, the former Metropolitan of Kiti declared non-admission to the charge of indecent assault on a woman, who in November 1981, when the crime was allegedly committed, was a minor.
Demonstration of support outside the Court
Meanwhile, women and men from the Network Against Violence Against Women holding banners reading "We, our sister, believed in you from the beginning" and "The victims broke the silence, does justice hear?" held a demonstration in support of the complainant outside the Larnaca District Court.
In her statements, Skevi Koukouma, General Secretary of POGO, stated that "we are here because after many delays, the second trial against the former Metropolitan of Kiti for sexual harassment of women has finally begun. In fact, we are here to support the complainant, who will testify today, and we feel obliged to be there, with our quiet presence to make her feel that she is not alone. "
He added that the slogans written on the banners can not only be slogans, but in this case the girl must "feel that some people believe her. "I am sure that many believe it, but only a few express it," he said, noting that "we do not want to cause any problems in the course of the trial."
Answering a question, Ms. Koukouma said that she knows about other women who reported their own incidents to the Police, but "for one reason or another, some are reticent in making the complaint. The result of the first case, which acquitted the former Metropolitan, has sent messages that in the end women will not find their right and therefore, possibly what reason to enter this soul-destroying process ".
"We call on women to speak up but in the end they fail for various reasons, either legal or for other reasons. We have incidents that we encouraged to report in the field of theater and sports, but in the end for various legal and other reasons they did not come to the conclusion to justify those who found the courage to report a case of sexual harassment. "We want to support and inspire women to speak," said Koukouma.
Lawyer Argentoula Ioannou, on behalf of the Coordinating Committee of the "Network against Violence against Women", stated that "we are here as a Network to watch the hearing of the girl who filed a complaint of sexual harassment against the Metropolitan".
He added that "as a Network we are monitoring the case and we are interested in the justification of the girl, as a victim of violence, especially from the Church, whose role should be in the protection of the weak." It's a case that infuriates us and what we see is that where there is power, it is used to the detriment of women. "
In addition, he continued, "we are interested in the course of this trial because we often monitor the implementation of the Istanbul Convention, which now binds the Republic - both legally and after ratification. "We are interested in whether the details of the procedures imposed by the Convention are implemented and enforced by the Republic of Cyprus," he concluded.