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Published by
Agence France Presse,
February 4, 2005
Greek Orthodox churchman arrested in
corruption case
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ATHENS, Feb 4 (AFP)
- One Greek Orthodox churchman was arrested in a
street and another suspended for six months Friday
in latest twists of a corruption saga that has
shocked the faithful in this deeply religious
country.
Police arrested a senior clergyman, Archimandrite
Iakovos Giosakis, on his way to an examining
magistrate in Piraeus near Athens to make a
statement as part of an investigation into illegal
antiques dealing.
Police officers armed with an arrest warrant
escorted the cleric to the magistrate's office to
be formally charged.
According to media reports, Giosakis is alleged to
have corrupted four law officers who have since
been threatened with dismissal.
Reports say Giosakis allegedly tried to corrupt
the lawmen for personal benefit and to the
advantage of two Orthodox bishops, Metropolitan
Panteleimon and Metropolitan Theoklitos.
Both are understood to be close associates of the
head of the Greek Orthodox Church, Archbishop
Christodoulos.
Meanhwile the Church's judicial authority took the
highly unusual step Friday of suspending Bishop
Panteleimon from his duties for six months pending
investigations into allegations that he solicited
the support of a judge to block an objection to
his clerical appointment.
The bishop appeared before his peers to deny the
charge.
Church authorities said Thursday they would engage
in a large-scale cleaning-up operation within the
ranks of the clergy, and officially called on the
faithful to blow the whistle on corrupt clergymen.
Next Tuesday they will also question Bishop
Theoklitos, who has been accused in the Greek
media of involvement in drug-dealing.
The Church also has to address the problem of a
letter written by its present leader Archbishop
Christodoulos in 1996, appealing to a judge to
support a request for a drug trafficker to be
released from custody.
A spokesman for the Archbishop explained that the
letter in question had been a philanthropic
intervention by the then bishop Christodoulos.
The Church on Thursday called on its flock to
denounce clergymen who break the law following the
indictment of a lower cleric for alleged illicit
trading in antiques.
"The Church, in the will to shed ample light on
rumours and other information damaging the
clerics' honour, calls all the faithful who have
evidence to hand it over to the responsible church
authorities," Bishop Dorotheos said in a televised
announcement of the decision by the Permanent Holy
Synod after an emergency session in Athens.
Clergyman Iakovos Yiosakis is being investigated
for alleged illicit trading in antiques.
The Greek judiciary is also investigating whether
Yiosakis acted as a go-between for litigants and
bribe-taking judges in Piraeus, Greece's largest
port city.
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2005
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