Screenshot (Google Maps) of the association Kivotos Tou Kosmou/Ark of the World, in Athens (Greece), in July 2019. GOOGLE MAPS SCREEN CAPTURE
In recent days, Greece has been in shock after prosecutors launched investigations into several leaders of the orthodox NGO Kivotos Tou Kosmou/Weltarke (‘World Ark’) for violence, sexual abuse and abuse of minors housed in five homes across the country. Founded by Father Antonios Papanikolaou and directed for almost 25 years, the NGO takes in children who have been separated from families who cannot raise them financially or who are accused of abuse.
The case begins in August when a social worker at a shelter files a complaint against another worker at the NGO who he says is “beating up” minors. Other colleagues then denounced similar violence. But it is above all the testimonies of abused children collected by the Children’s Rights Defender that prompted the opening of an investigation by the Public Prosecutor’s Office on Friday 18 November. Prosecutors are currently examining at least ten statements accusing Father Antonios, his wife (Orthodox priests are allowed to marry) and three employees of the NGO of abuse.
Locked up “in cages”
In the Greek media, the confessions of minors who have passed through the facilities are chilling. Several of them report in the columns of the newspaper “Kathimerini” that when they were punished by the home authorities, they were locked for several hours in rooms or even “in cages” without daylight. Another boarding school student says that he was forced to work in the fields from the age of seven. Several parents have complained that the organization has barred them from all visits. At 17, Evgenia also tells Skai TV that she became pregnant and was forced to have an abortion. Separated from her three siblings, she is regularly locked in the toilet for several hours “as punishment”.
In addition to the abuse of children, there are serious allegations of sexual violence after a 19-year-old young man filed a complaint and was corroborated by a witness against Father Antonios.
The Greek government decided to react quickly. After a council of ministers on Monday, he decided to replace the NGO’s administration. “The complaints of abusive behavior are very serious, but until the investigation is completed we must ensure the proper functioning of the structures,” Deputy Minister for Social Protection Domna Michailidou did not fully justify the closure of the homes.
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