An expert seems to have tilted the scales in the ongoing Osiou Avakoum monastery scandal, when he testified in church court on Tuesday that videos showing monks in actions inconsistent with their calling and leading to their removal were genuine.

Philenews reported that the expert deemed the videos had not meddled with, as the monks had originally claimed.

This weakens the case of the defence, which claimed the videos had been edited to frame their clients.

On Tuesday morning, defence lawyer Anastasios Vavouskos was still questioning the authenticity of the video, saying that there was no camera that would automatically record the dialogue between the monks and their names, as in the case of the videos that had circulated.

However, the expert refuted the claim and told the court that the sms messages the monks had exchanged with Tamassos bishop Isaias, claiming they had funded his pre-election campaign for the archbishop’s throne, could have been produced.

Although this does not mean they were manufactured, it does mean how genuine they are could only be proven through the examination of the monks’ mobile telephones.

The monks are insisting they are genuine and could, if requested, present them for scientific examination.

Three prosecution witnesses and three defence witnesses were expected to testify on Tuesday, with Vavouskos saying that if proceedings were wrapped up by the end of the day, it was possible the court would announce its decision later in the week.

Vavouskos said that among the witnesses was Timotheos, a member of the monastery’s brotherhood, who was among the suspects but is now being examined as a prosecution witness.

“A bit incomprehensible, but that’s the reality,” he said.

Defence witnesses include the Archdeacon of the Tamassos Bishop, the engineer who supervised the monastery’s works and his wife, who is also a donor to the monastery, according to Vavouskos.

He explained that the witnesses were selected by the church court from the list filed on Monday, which included Archbishop Georgios and Morphou Bishop Neofytos and three members of the investigating committee, as well as Vavouskos himself.

“There is a resentment towards me because of the criticism of the whole process and the way it was conducted from April onwards and that is the reason I was excluded as a defence witness,” he said.

Asked by a reporter about Timotheos’ role and how he can testify as a prosecution witness and subsequently as a defence witness, Vavouskos said that the six-member court should be asked about this.

He then clarified that Timotheos was not part of the plan originally as he had been a suspect but was then included as a prosecution witness.

The monks also a filed a request on Tuesday to have Tamassos Bishop Isaias, their accuser, questioned again, because during the cross-examination not all their questions were answered.

Later in the day, the supreme court denied a request filed by the monks to have the church stop the ongoing ecclesiastical procedure against them.

Monday’s hearing went on until 8.30pm, with the monks questioning their accuser for several hours.

On Monday, Archimandrites Nektarios and Porfyrios and monk Avakoum brought a suitcase full of box files with testimony and evidence to defend themselves.