Defence challenges testimony over €790,000 at Avakoum monastery trial

The defence challenged prosecution testimony over €790,000 reportedly kept in safes at the Avakoum monastery during a hearing at Nicosia criminal court on Wednesday. Lawyer Costis Efstathiou, representing Abbot Nektarios, questioned prosecution witness Father Dionysios Koptides about when the alleged financial irregularities were identified and whether the monk had admitted wrongdoing before the details emerged. Dionysios said the money should have been declared to the Tamasos bishopric, but clarified that no financial investigation had been conducted at the time and that the sum was declared later. Efstathiou questioned how Nektarios could have admitted financial misconduct if the specific acts attributed to him had not been explained. He also asked about the opening of a safe and the counting of its contents, referring to testimony that Nektarios had asked to be present because he knew the combination. Dionysios said he had attended the counting for a few minutes before leaving. The cross-examination also covered allegations of a sexual nature, which Efstathiou argued that such matters were not included in the witness’s written testimony and accused him of lying about them. The hearing examined an announcement issued at the request of the Bishop Isaias of Tamasos inviting members of the public to submit complaints about the monastery or its members. Dionysios confirmed that the announcement had been requested by the metropolitan but said he had not been told why it was being issued. He said complaints had subsequently been submitted to the police, although he could not recall how many. Efstathiou also questioned the witness about items removed from the monastery by 16 authorised individuals and transferred to the bishopric. Dionysios said he could not remember where the items had been kept immediately after their transfer, but had later seen them in the building’s basement. The defence said it intended to cross-examine the 16 individuals authorised to visit the monastery and to call Isaias to give evidence.