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Abbot Ephraim of the Vatopedi Monastery, who was charged with property transactions in large amounts to the detriment of the Greek state, has decided to surrender to justice. An arrest warrant has been issued against the priest but it was diverted because of ill health. Today, however, doctors and monks in the Monastery have assessed that Ephraim is well enough to be able to face the prosecutor. The abbot travelled by boat from Mount Athos to the town of Ouranoupolis, from where he moved to Athens with a police escort. He will first appear in the General Directorate of Greek Police and then, he will be taken to the Palace of Justice to be served the arrest warrant.
    "I have never interfered with the independent Greek justice, nor will I intervene in any case," stated the Minister of Justice Miltiadis Papaioannou in response to the growing demands of individuals and institutions to intervene and prevent the arrest. "The criminal justice system does not discriminate on public status, religion or nationality," said the president of the Association of Prosecutors in Greece Panagiotis Brakoumatos and described as "meaningless" the reactions from abroad against the arrest of Ephraim. The Association of Judges in Greece defined the criticism against the detention of the Vatopedi abbot as "impermissible interference with the work of justice."