Vatopedi

An Athens criminal court on Tuesday acquitted all 14 defendants charged in connection with a property swap between the Vatopedi Monastery in the Mount Athos monastic community in northern Greece and the Greek state.

An Athens prosecutor has sought the acquittal on all charges for the suspects charged in connection with the property swap between the Vatopedi Monastery and the Greek state.

The exchange, which took place almost a decade ago, is alleged to have cost taxpayers millions.

The criminal trial relating to the infamous property swap between the Vatopedi Monastery and the Greek state entered its final phase on Thursday when two of the protagonists in the exchange, Abbot Ephraim and monk Arsenios, appeared in court in Athens.

Mount Athos, in northern Greece, is set in an area of outstanding natural beauty. The peninsula is a World Heritage Site and autonomous polity within Greece under the official name Autonomous Monastic State of the Holy Mountain and has its own flag.

Hollywood actor Jonathan Jackson, well-known from his stint on the American soap opera General Hospital and a current protagonist on the TV series Nashville, visited the Vatopedi Monastery on Mount Athos last week with his 12-year-old son Caleb.

Jackson, who was baptized in the Orthodox Christian faith in 2012, met with Vatopedi Abbot Efraim over the weekend.

The trial of 13 people over the alleged Vatopedi Monastery land swap scandal was on Tuesday adjourned for a second time and is now due to resume on April 21.

The Criminal Appeals Court adjourned the trial for the notorious Monastery Land swaps to March 23. The reason for the adjournment was the size of the court that was not large enough to fit the thirteen people accused in the case, including Vatopedi Monastery Abbot Ephraim and monk Arsenios.

The trial of 13 people over the alleged Vatopedi Monastery land swap scandal began on Monday but was adjourned until March 23.

The judged adjourned the trial so a new, larger courtroom could be assigned. Originally, 14 people were due to stand trial but one of the accused has died.

Fourteen people are due to go on trial on Monday in connection to the alleged Vatopedi Monastery land swap scandal.

The Supreme Court decided Friday that 14 people should stand trial for the notorious property swap between the Vatopedi Monastery and the state six years ago.

Those who will face charges of breach of trust and making false declarations include the monastery’s abbot, Ephraim (photo), a monk, Arsenios, and the wife of former Public Order Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis, Katerina Peleki.