The Three-Member Criminal Court of Ioannina found the founder of the “Ark of the World”, Father Antonios Papanikolaou, the former director of the Ioannina structure, Andriani Theodorakopoulou, and the educator Paschalis Skordas, innocent of all the acts examined in this trial. According to the defense attorneys, the decision was unanimous, issued after a multi-month hearing process and was in accordance with the prosecutor’s acquittal proposal.
The acquittal concerns exclusively the charges included in the Ioannina case file. It does not constitute a blanket discharge of Father Antonios from all criminal cases connected to the “Ark of the World,” nor does it automatically overturn decisions of other courts. This is an essential distinction, as different judicial proceedings examine specific incidents, evidence, and potential criminal liability.
In the Ioannina trial, Andriani Theodorakopoulou faced charges of bodily harm to minors through intentional infliction of mental pain, unlawful detention and unlawful violence. Paschalis Skordas was accused of bodily harm to minors, while Father Antonios was accused of instigating the specific acts.
After the conclusion of the evidentiary proceedings, the court acquitted all three defendants. According to the defense, the acts attributed to them were not proven in court.
Defense attorney Dimitris Dimos emphasized that the decision was not, in his interpretation, the result of simple doubt, but of the failure to prove the specific charges.
“What is important is that he was not acquitted due to doubts, no charges were proven,” he said, describing the hearing process as exhaustive.
This position reflects the defense’s assessment. The precise legal basis for the acquittal requires an examination of the full reasoning of the court decision.
The Ioannina case is one of the individual criminal proceedings that arose after the allegations about the operation of “Ark of the World” structures, which had received great publicity since 2022.
The court case that was tried in Athens and for which a conviction by the Athens Court of Appeal has been reported is separate. According to Father Antoniou’s lawyers, this particular decision was issued in absentia. This procedure is not identical to the Ioannina trial and the acquittal in one case does not entail the annulment of the decision in the other.
In other words, the Three-Member Misdemeanor Court of Ioannina ruled that the three defendants should be acquitted of the acts examined before it. It did not rule on all the complaints that have been made from time to time regarding the organization. Any other case maintains its own judicial course and is judged by the competent court.
This distinction does not diminish the importance of the acquittal. On the contrary, it precisely defines its content and limits, avoiding the erroneous impression that a judicial decision automatically resolves all pending criminal cases concerning the same persons or the same organization.
In a joint statement, attorneys Dimitrios Dimos, Christina Mastora and Georgios Georgiou described the decision as a significant vindication of their clients, noting that the court evaluated the evidence presented during the months-long proceedings.
“The matter now belongs to the Court, which ruled based on the evidence and not on impressions,” they said.
The three lawyers also criticized the public treatment of the defendants since the beginning of the criminal investigations, arguing that the presumption of innocence was not always respected.
“The presumption of innocence was blatantly violated. Our principals were publicly treated as guilty before trial, and their honor was exposed without any reservation,” they noted.
The lawyers asked the media to give the acquittal the same publicity as the original charges.
“We expect them to cover their acquittal in the same way and to the same extent,” they said.
After the announcement of the decision, Father Antonios Papanikolaou expressed his relief and satisfaction with the outcome of this particular trial.
“Justice found me innocent,” he said, thanking the people who, as he said, supported him during the previous years.
The organization’s founder linked the decision to the social and charitable work that “Ark of the World” had developed since 1998, arguing that the acquittal also constitutes a moral vindication for the associates and volunteers who had supported its operation.
“After so long, we were acquitted, but what concerns me most is that the work of the Ark of the World is proving to be spotless and that it offered society everything,” he said.
This is the personal assessment of Father Antonios. This specific court decision does not constitute a comprehensive certification of the operation of all the structures of the organization, but an exculpatory judgment for the specific criminal acts examined in Ioannina.
Father Antonios also referred to the support that, according to him, he received from citizens despite the extensive publicity of the case.
“Because I’m out there, you know, out in the world, I haven’t met a single person who said anything bad to me. They hugged me, they gave me courage,” he said.
Defense attorney Dimitris Dimos pointed out that serious allegations were examined during the trial and that the evidentiary process ultimately led to the acquittal of the defendants.
“All of this, after a truly thorough process followed by the court, collapsed with the Court’s decision,” he said.
At the same time, Mr. Dimos argued that the judicial development contributes to the restoration of the image of the project that had been developed in the structures of Pogoniani, Konitsa and Ioannina .
Defense attorney Christina Mastora emphasized the importance of the judicial evaluation of evidence, emphasizing that the accused cannot be judged based on the impressions created in the public debate.
“Every person has the right to be judged fairly and based on the evidence contained in each case file and not through publications and the impressions they create,” he stated.
For his part, defense attorney George Georgiou referred to the consequences of the public exposure of the accused and requested that public opinion be informed accordingly about their acquittal.
“I want to emphasize that for four years they were treated as guilty before they were even tried,” he said.
“Ark of the World” was founded in 1998 and for many years developed actions to host, care for and support children who were facing serious social and family difficulties.
Her work had been publicly recognized, while Father Antonios had been honored, among others, by the Academy of Athens and the European Parliament .
The allegations made public in 2022 led to criminal investigations and court proceedings, which do not necessarily constitute a single case. The different nature of the allegations and the acts attributed makes it necessary to examine each case file independently.
The acquittal in Ioannina constitutes a substantial judicial vindication for the three defendants with respect to the specific acts. However, it does not constitute a judicial decision on other charges nor does it automatically alter the validity of other decisions.
The case also highlights the need for careful journalistic coverage of criminal proceedings, especially when they involve minors and persons who have strongly concerned public opinion.
The publication of a complaint, the initiation of criminal prosecution, the issuance of a conviction and the acquittal in a different trial constitute distinct legal events , which should not be confused.
The decision of the Three-Member Criminal Court of Ioannina closes, in terms of the trial of these specific charges, an important chapter of the “Ark of the World” case. The overall judicial picture, however, cannot be captured through a single decision, as each different procedure maintains its own legal and evidentiary independence.
