THE TRIAL of two archimandrites accused of conspiring to defame Bishop Athanassios of Limassol came to a formal end at a summary hearing yesterday after the state filed for suspension of the case citing reasons of public interest.
Archimandrites Andreas Constantinides and Chrysostomos Argyrides had been on trial since February.
The decision to suspend proceedings had been announced by Attorney-general Alecos Markides on Sunday.
Yesterday, the state prosecutor filed the request, which was duly accepted by the judge who formally discharged the defendants.
But the show was stolen by defence lawyer Demetris Pavlides, who complained his clients had not had the chance to prove their innocence.
“With your permission your honour. We respect this position; it is the Attorney general’s right.
“I want to declare that my clients did not get the chance to prove their innocence through the procedure.”
But judge Fivos Zomenis seemed to have had enough.
He told Pavlides that he had requested for the case to be suspended so that he would have the chance to appeal for the case to be dropped altogether.
“In light of this, Mr. Pavlides’ position today is incomprehensible and unacceptable,” Judge Zomenis said.
“I have nothing more to say.”
After the end of the hearing, the two archimandrites were jubilant, talking to reporters and handing out their statements in writing.
Argyrides said he felt a winner because he was innocent.
“I’m innocent,” said the typed statement, followed by three exclamation marks.
The statement issued by Constantinides was less triumphant, but like his lawyer he said: “I believe and feel that I’m innocent despite being deprived of the chance to prove my innocence through the trial.”
“I feel a winner,” he added.
But the two clerics may not be off the hook yet.
Both have been suspended by the Holy Synod for alleged involvement in immoral practices.
Constantinides has been accused of fathering an illegitimate child, while Argyrides was suspended after it emerged that he could be involved with homosexuals.
The Attorney-general’s decision to suspend the case did not go by without criticism.
Bishop Chrysostomos of Paphos, who has been accused of supporting the archimandrites, on Monday lambasted Markides for not allowing the case to proceed.
“Since the archimandrites were charged with conspiracy is it right that the case be stopped and not completed so that the public can see if there really was a conspiracy or not?” Chrysostomos wondered.
Markides countered that he had not taken any sides in the “battle that affected the Church of Cyprus”.
“I only did my duty,” he said.
The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.
