The trial of the case concerning the financial part surrounding the scandal of the holy monastery of Saint Avakoum began before Nicosia criminal court on Wednesday with the amendment of three counts of the indictment concerning the Monk Nektarios.

The proceedings began with the representative of the prosecution, Vassilis Bissas, submitting a request to amend the details of charges 10, 11 and 13 of the indictment concerning Nektarios, so that they corresponded to the testimony he was going to present to the court.

The 10th and 13th charges relate to the circulation of false documents in a fraudulent manner, while the 11th charges relate to theft of a sum of €20,000.

Bissas’ request was approved by the court which then issued a decree amending the indictment, with Nektarios responding by pleading not guilty to all three amended charges.

The defence of the first accused, Kostis Efstathiou, then made a request for more information about charges 1, 4 and 15 of the indictment, asking for clarification on the owner of the money that his client is said to have illegally held, and the alleged illegal activities that form the basis of the money laundering offence.

The first prosecution witness, a constable, then presented himself to the court.

He had filed a report on March 24, 2024 regarding photographs of items that he had taken on March 9 and 13, 2024 in the Diocese of Tamasos, Episkopi, as part of the police investigation into the case.

The witness reported that he had photographed various objects and sums of money related to the offences under investigation and that he had copied the content onto two digital discs, having selected a total of 203 photographs but clarified that he had not processed the photographic material himself.

When the prosecution attempted to present the photograph, the defence of both accused submitted an objection, arguing that the photographs of objects taken from Avakoum and the home of the mother of the first accused could not be presented without a search warrant as they violated relevant legal provisions, adding that the photographs in question had not previously been handed to them.

The prosecution, on its part, said that the evidence had been handed to the defence at the referral stage of the case, however, suggested that the defence be given time to examine the photographic material and specify the evidence to which they intend to object.

The defence agreed with the motion, saying that so far it had at its disposal an “indefinite or at least incomplete list of evidence” rather than the complete set of photographs the prosecution intends to present.

The court indicated that, at the next trial, the defence should be able to present its position on the photographs and the other evidence in the case and set the date for the continuation on June 16, 2026 at 9am, with additional trials having been set on June 18, 22 and 24.

The monks are facing charges relating to conspiracy to defraud, forgery, the use of false documents, theft from a representative, the illegal possession of property worth over €63,000, money laundering, interference in a judicial process, and the filing of a false tax return.

They both deny any involvement and have not admitted to any of the charges.