Shocking incidents of beatings and hard child labourdescribed witnesses from the structures of the NGO Kivotos tou Kosmos founded by Father Antonios before the Three-member Misdemeanor Court.

In the trial before the Three-member Criminal Court, against the father Antonio and seven employees of the Ark of the World, the three witnesses testified about what they learned from children, during the time they worked at the Ark of the World.

The court dealt with three complaints of children from the Volos structure for which although those in charge were informed, they did not act.

In fact, as was heard in court, one of the complaints was considered “the children’s words”, so that no one would be concerned with what the child claimed. According to what a former employee of the Volos structure testified, the child complained of a severe beating and she had sent a letter to the headquarters in Athens to investigate the incident.

The witness said that the incident happened in August 2022, when a boy told her that he and four other children had beaten him. “He approached me and other educators and asked me if I had been informed about the event. He told me he was approached by S…and invited him to the winery where he beat him. He had told me that he had been given cuffs and that after the incident he felt unwell and had a tendency to faint… The children had been separated into rooms so that they were not all together,” he testified.

Chairman: How did you react?

Witness: At that moment I was confused, then we went to the Directorate and in the following days we wrote a letter and sent it to Athens to investigate what had happened.

Chairman: What was the management’s reaction?

Witness: We have not received any official response. A meeting was held, they informed us that all these are “children’s words” and that nothing has been done. The moment I heard it I believed it. At that moment when they told us that nothing happened, we accepted it because we had no other evidence.

The defense contested the testimony, claiming that the witness was fired from the facility because, according to the defendants’ side, she had put a child in an iron cage for a few seconds to punish him. The witness stated that the incident never happened while she emphasized that she had not been notified of her dismissal paper.

Another witness, working since 2018 in structures in Magnesia, testified that the same boy, to whom the previous witness also referred, had told her that they beat it “with planks and stones.”

“I was in the kitchen. He went up to collect tithes. He said to me “did you know that they beat me with boards and stones?”. He told me that he was beaten by S. and A. He had some marks when I saw him, bruises.’ The woman testified that the child, following an order, was locked in a different place from the others. “I was locking and unlocking the door. I was taking the food to him.”

Defense: The point is, why lock someone in if they can get out the window?

Witness: We all wonder this.

Chairman: Have you discussed it, the staff among yourselves?

Witness: Yes, because the child told the teachers and the principal.

Chairman: What was the management’s response to the incident?

Witness: The child was in an isolated room, alone… I don’t know what had happened.

The third witness of today’s proceedings, a former worker at the Volos structure, testified that she saw two children working to “return” the shelter and food provided by the Ark.

The witness pointed out that these two child-workers had been appointed in charge of the house of Ano Volos. “One had broken his leg. I took him to the doctor and it took time for his leg to recover. I had not seen an employment contract” said the witness who explained that the status for these children was that they “had to do something” for the benefits they received from the Ark.