Disgraced former bishop Chrysostomos of Kition on Friday is to file an appeal before the Supreme Court against his suspended jail sentence for indecently assaulting a teenager back in 1981.
This is what Yiannis Polychronis – one of the 85-year-old cleric’s defense lawyers – told Philenews before adding that the appeal will be filed around 11am.
To the anger of protesters gathered outside the Larnaca District Court on June 1, the female judge suspended the 12-month jail sentence it handed down against the former bishop.
The court said it had been bound by the laws in force at the time of the offence and had also taken into account the 85-year-old’s age and failing health. Nonetheless, the sentence was greeted by jeers and chants of “rapist”.
The verdict noted that Chrysostomos appeared to “cleverly” set his plan in motion by choosing the time and place of their meetings so the victim would be alone with him. The teenager had then reached out to the bishop for financial support after losing her father.
Chrysostomos’ conviction was a rare instance in which a senior member of the island’s influential Orthodox Church – even if no longer in office – has faced the full weight of the law.
