Reporting by Dora Chrisodoulou, Ioanna Mantzipa.
The opening hearing in the rape trial of suspended Paphos Mayor Phedon Phedonos lasted just ten minutes on Thursday after a judge on the Criminal Court bench cited serious grounds for recusing himself, forcing an adjournment to June 24.
Judge Nikodemos Fakontis told the court he could not participate in the proceedings and set out three grounds for his recusal. The presiding judge subsequently referred the matter to the Supreme Court to decide on a replacement, and set the next hearing for June 24, at which Phedonos will be asked to enter a plea.
How the hearing unfolded
The presiding judge opened proceedings by giving the floor to Judge Fakontis, who cited three reasons for stepping aside.
The first concerned a case previously handled by his late father, in which an application for contempt of court has been filed. After his father’s death, his wife took over the handling of the application. The case involves a contempt application against the Paphos Sewerage Board, of which the accused is chairman.
The second ground concerned a dispute between the accused and members of the Evsevia club, which is managed by relatives of Judge Fakontis.
The third ground was that the judge’s sister has a close spiritual relationship with the accused’s family.
Defence and Law Office clash
Defence lawyer Christos Pourgourides claimed his client had been publicly humiliated for months by the media, and alleged that the Law Office had allowed police to leak information, damaging his client’s reputation. The Law Office representative flatly rejected those claims.
After the judges left the courtroom, Phedonos expressed frustration, saying: “They are wasting time and dragging it out.”
