Former archimandrites of Saint Avvakoum Monastery deny guilt on all 24 charges

The Nicosia Permanent Criminal Court is continuing hearings in the case of former archimandrites Nektarios and Porphyrios from Saint Avvakoum Monastery (Osiou Avakoum) in the village of Fterikoudi (Fterikoudi). Both defendants deny guilt, and the next hearing has been scheduled for 7 September.

The monks face a total of 24 charges. These include conspiracy to commit fraud, forgery and use of forged documents, theft by power of attorney, unlawful possession of property worth more than €63,000, money laundering, filing a false tax return and interfering with the course of judicial proceedings. There were initially 19 charges, with five more added in autumn 2024.

The substantive hearing of the case began on 9 June 2026. Before that, the prosecution amended three charges against Nektarios, including the theft of €20,000.

The defence is challenging the legality of the collection of evidence, claiming that some items and documents were seized without a search warrant. On 1 July, the court unanimously rejected an application for a “trial within a trial” on the matter, and on 20 July it also rejected an objection to the admission of the evidence. This included €806,660 held by the police.

The scandal surrounding the monastery became public in March 2024. In October of the same year, both monks were removed from the monastery register.