The Paphos District Court has reserved until 18 August its ruling on whether a 51-year-old monk should remain detained pending proceedings before the Paphos Assize Court.
The monk, accused of wounding a 53-year-old employee of the Holy Stavropegic Monastery of Ayios Neophytos in Tala, is due to appear before the Assize Court on 7 October.
Court reserves custody ruling
The court will deliver its decision at 9am on 18 August. The 51-year-old will remain in custody until the ruling is issued.
During the hearing, defence lawyer Alexandros Alexandrou objected to his client’s continued detention and presented several arguments in support of his release.
Alexandrou claimed that the likelihood of the monk being convicted was “almost non-existent” and argued that there was no risk of him absconding. He said the 51-year-old was held in particularly high regard by people in the Paphos district.
The defence lawyer also said the monk was a Cypriot citizen who had lived in Cyprus for the past 25 years. He described Ayios Neophytos Monastery as his home and maintained that he had neither the motive nor any reason to leave the country.
He further argued that the accused had “extremely strong ties” to Cyprus.
The prosecution requested that the monk remain in custody pending his appearance before the Paphos Assize Court.
The proceedings concern allegations of attempted murder, unlawful possession and carrying of an offensive weapon, and carrying a knife in connection with the attack on the 53-year-old monastery employee.
Events leading to the alleged attack
The investigating officer told the court there was evidence giving rise to a reasonable suspicion that the 51-year-old was involved in the alleged offences. He was arrested under a court warrant at around 1.30pm on 7 August and taken into custody.
According to the account presented in court, the incident occurred at around 7.30am that day at Ayios Neophytos Monastery.
The monastery’s abbot, Leontios, Chorepiscopus of Chytroi, went to the monk’s cell and asked him to hand over its key.
The court heard that the 51-year-old had been using two cells for around four to five years following his father’s death. One of the cells had previously accommodated his father and was subsequently occupied by the monk.
Other monks, a novice and the 53-year-old employee were also present. The employee is a technician who works on lock installations and had reportedly been asked to attend so that he could replace the lock if the monk refused to surrender the key.
The abbot asked the 51-year-old to open the cell, which he did. After inspecting it and seeing the extent of the clutter, the abbot said workers would be sent to clean it.
The monk allegedly replied that he wanted to remove his belongings himself, gradually, before closing the cell door. The abbot then asked him to hand over the key.
Employee allegedly wounded in the neck
According to the investigating officer, the monk refused and the abbot attempted to take the key from his hand. A struggle followed, with the two men gripping each other’s hands.
When the 53-year-old intervened to separate them, the monk allegedly attacked him with a sharp object, injuring him in the neck and right hand.
A 27-year-old monk then restrained the accused from behind to prevent him from attacking again, as he remained agitated. While being held, the 51-year-old allegedly used his left hand to injure the younger monk’s right hand with the blade of a box cutter.
The 27-year-old continued restraining him but released him after noticing that the 53-year-old was bleeding from the neck.
The injured employee went to the Accident and Emergency Department at Paphos General Hospital. Medical examinations found lacerations to the left side of his neck and his right upper limb.
His wounds were stitched and he remained in hospital for treatment. Police officers subsequently attended the monastery and located the 51-year-old.
Statement to investigators
During questioning, the monk reportedly admitted committing the alleged offences, saying he had reacted because he wanted to empty the cell himself.
The case is scheduled to come before the Paphos Assize Court on 7 October. The accused will remain in custody until the District Court delivers its decision on 18 August.
