Morphou bishop cleared of violating Covid decrees

A Nicosia district court on Tuesday cleared Morphou Bishop Neofytos of all charges of violating coronavirus-related decrees by holding a church service on Epiphany Day in January 2021 during lockdown.

The court said that, having considered the evidence brought before it, the defendant had no case to answer.

In his ruling judge Xenis Xenofontos said state prosecutors failed to provide an essential element in the alleged offence, and therefore failed to establish any predicate.

Dubbed the ‘Anti-Covid Bishop’ by a section of the media, the cleric had been charged after refusing to pay a €300 fine for holding a public church service on January 6.

The Covid decrees in force at the time generally barred gatherings of more than two persons, but permitted as an exception church services with a maximum of 75 persons, provided that the rule of ‘one person per three square metres’ was adhered to.

The judge said footage from the blessing of the waters ritual showed a substantial number of the faithful in attendance.

The defendant himself admitted that, after the ritual, at least 250 people kissed his hand.

However in the judge’s opinion the core of the prosecution’s case collapsed as it hinged on the allegation that Neofytos had earlier incited people to break the law.

This related to a church service he had presided over on January 2, where he called on the faithful to attend the Epiphany Day event.

“Let no one miss the Epiphany service,” Neofytos told the congregation.

“You’ve got to be stupid to believe what they say awaits us,” he added, evidently alluding to warnings about the spread of the coronavirus.

“I’d rather go to jail a thousand times, and risk being mocked by a journalist, than not perform the service.”

But reviewing video clips uploaded to Youtube as well as newspaper coverage at the time, the judge said the bishop’s appeal for attendance was a generic one and did not prima facie prove incitement to others to commit a criminal offence.

It was also unclear from video footage, submitted as evidence, how many people attended the January 2 church service where the bishop made his impassioned plea.

At any rate, the court stressed, given that Covid rules at the time did allow exceptions for religious gatherings, the cleric’s generic appeal did not explicitly constitute a violation of those rules.

The court additionally pointed out that the police fine issued to Neofytos subsequent to the Epiphany Day service did not spell out the precise regulation that had been violated – merely that the bishop had violated the Quarantine Law under which the health minister issues the various coronavirus-related decrees.

The judge summed up: “The defendant’s opinions on the pandemic, or his views on the restrictive measures, are irrelevant to the legal matters being adjudged. That is because he did not incite anyone to break the law on January 2, but rather called on an unknown number of persons to take part in a permitted religious activity.”

At the time, anyone found guilty of violating the rule of more than two persons congregating were liable to up to one year in prison or a fine of up to €50,000.