Whistleblower in Avakoum scandal is ‘unreliable’

The monks’ legal team for the church’s procedures against them in the infamous Osiou Avakoum scandal demanded on Wednesday that the main whistleblower in the case be deemed unreliable.

In a letter to Archbishop Georgios, lawyers Efstathios Efstathiou and Anastasios Vavouskos said that monk Varnavas, who had revealed the sexual acts and money laundering to Bishop Isaias, was unreliable.

The lawyers said that they had photographic material to strengthen their claim.

“For this reason, all the accusations that he [Varnavas] made to the Bishop of Tamassos Isaias, at the instigation of the latter, are unsubstantiated and unacceptable,” the lawyers said.

The lawyers also said Isaias coaxed Varnavas to gather further evidence against the accused monks in the sex and money scandal.

They deemed that the charges against the monks should be thrown out as Varnavas was an unreliable witness.

According to information heard in court in mid-June, when Archimandrite Nektarios was remanded for eight-days, cameras at monastery were installed by the monk, who, after the initial camera placement had three extra cameras installed that recorded sound.

Two of the cameras in question were placed in Nektarios’ office, while a third was placed in the garden of the monastery.

According to a report in Philenews, the cameras that did not record sound were installed by the monks following orders given from the Tamassos bishopric, due to a spate of burglaries carried out at churches in the area.

The metropolis of Tamassos reported that there was no indication made to ever have sound recorded, and that Nektarios had done it out of his own volition, paying out of pocket for the three cameras that recorded sound.

Access to the cameras, according to a claim made by the bishopric, was given to Nektarios, Porfyrios, and a third monk Varnavas, who has been pointed out as the individual that reported the two first for sexual acts.

The bishopric said that after the three cameras were installed, Nektarios failed to block access to them, leaving Porfyrios and Varnavas able to access the recordings.

Varnavas is reported to have seen sexual acts on the cameras in the office, and he is said to have reported to the Tamassos Bishop Isaias what he saw.

The metropolis of Tamassos considers that it did not receive the content of the cameras illegally but from a legitimate user.

Criminal charges against the monks are underway separately.