Witness in Avakoum Monastery case alleges simulated trance — Cyprus Mail

At the Nicosia District Court in Cyprus, a prosecution witness in the case concerning alleged fraud at Avakoum Monastery said that surveillance camera footage convinced him to leave the community for good. According to him, the recording allegedly showed one of the defendants, Abbot Nektarios, simulating a religious trance while impersonating Saint Porphyrios, before fainting.

As Cyprus Mail reports, the witness was shown the video by representatives of the Bishop of Tamassos shortly before he left the monastery. In court, he said he considered what he saw to be staged, and that was when he realised he did not want to remain in that community.

Testimony on treatment at the monastery

The prosecution pointed out that the witness's claims of oppressive treatment at the monastery were inconsistent with his vote to elect Nektarios as abbot. The witness replied that he had voted as instructed and that Nektarios had worked in advance to secure the desired outcome. According to him, the vote did not mean that the abbot's attitude towards him had changed.

The defence presented photographs and videos taken during the witness's two years at the monastery, including footage from trips to Jerusalem and Istanbul. The defence argued that these materials showed that the witness was treated no differently from the other monks.

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The parties' positions in the case

The witness rejected this comparison, noting that ten short videos did not provide grounds for assessing the entire two-year period of his stay at the monastery. He also stressed that materials intended for the defendants' social media accounts could not have shown instances of improper treatment.

Answering questions about the monastery's finances, the witness acknowledged that the monastery paid for his food, utilities, clothing and travel. At the same time, he said he did not know where his salary had gone and added that he had complained about the abbot's behaviour throughout his stay there.

Nektarios and Porphyrios deny charges of conspiracy to commit fraud, document forgery, theft, money laundering and filing false tax returns. The next court hearing is scheduled for September 28.