By Elena Galaris

Appeal brought by the First Instance Prosecutor’s Office against the decision of the Three-member Misdemeanor Court of Athens, based on which the founder of the Ark of the World had been acquitted Father Antonios for 14 acts of abusive behavior against minors that had been attributed to him, as well as former workers in the structures.

The prosecutor’s office considers that the acquittals of the accused resulted “from an incorrect assessment of the evidence”, considering that the children who were accommodated in the structures of the Ark they were victims of forced labor and even in extreme conditions, with heavy work such as agricultural work, using even dangerous tools, for long hours, regardless of age and in conditions of unbearable heat.

“The defendants committed the acts attributed to them for which they were acquitted and therefore they should be found guilty and sentenced to the corresponding penalty,” the prosecutor states in her appeal.

In addition, he believes that hard work was paid with coupons that had little value. “Those who did not perform well were forced to work harder than others. And all this at the expense of their education. Obviously, this reinforces the evidence of institutionalization and cutting children off from access to essential skills.”

For the acquittal of the defendants for the charges related to the isolation of four children, the prosecutor estimates that from the hearing it emerged that “solitary confinement was a measure of punishment of the structure.”

Father Antonios sentenced to 51 months in prisonredeemable for 10 euros per day for 5 acts of bodily harm, moral abetment in simple and dangerous bodily harm to a minor, while the remaining 4 former employees were sentenced to 17 to 40 months with a three-year suspension.