A Cretan mafia member made headlines with what he shouted at journalists. “Go to Dora Bakoyannis’ house,” he added for the “sacred” scandal.
The revelations about the “sacred” scandal shaking Crete, which reaches the “court” of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ family and his sister Dora Bakoyannis, who is also the Member of Parliament for Chania, have caused quite a stir.
(HERE IS THE LINK TO THE VIDEO…)
By Vasilis Chitos
During the appearance of the accused before the public prosecutor in Chania, one of the Cretan mafia members, involved in forming the criminal organization, was heard shouting toward the journalists, “Go to Dora Bakoyannis’ house,” and immediately after, he loudly said, “Can you hear me? Dora did it…” Following this, it seems a police escort intervened with the command, “Come on, shut up, finish up…”
Interestingly, the majority of Athens TV channels – quite coincidentally – made sure that no part of the statement got aired, in contrast to the “Haniotika Nea” website, where everything was broadcast with both sound and visuals. The question remains, as the testimonies continue, whether this detainee has anything more to contribute as “incriminating” evidence to the investigator and prosecutor or if it will remain limited to the public appearances and embraces with Dora, as well as Prime Minister Mitsotakis, both with Archimandrite Melchisedek, whom they intend to make Metropolitan of Kydonia and Apokoronas, and with Abbot Damaskinos, who generously “gifted” 175 acres of land to two mafia brothers—“godfathers” in Chania, on land where the film Zorba the Greek with Anthony Quinn was filmed in 1964. The issue, of course, is not only the huge scandal with the “sacred” land that was “donated” to the two mafia brothers, but also the uproar around the “pink” video that they claim to possess, allegedly featuring Abbot Damaskinos, who is now a thing of the past for the Monastery of Agia Triada.
Great Respect
The Mitsotakis family has always “paid their respects” to the priest and held him in high regard, as the Monastery of Agia Triada is famous for the sacred and invaluable religious and archaeological artifacts it houses. In fact, the prime minister himself visited the abbot, bringing his son along, as a show of immense respect for his “ascetic” life. Of course, the Abbot Damaskinos, on his frequent outings from the monastery, drove a Jeep Cherokee and even had a personal driver. This is confirmed by a letter he sent to the Metropolis of Kydonia and Apokoronas in March 2014, claiming that unknown individuals had vandalized his vehicle, cutting the suspension of the right front wheel and loosening the bolts of the left rear wheel on the Jeep (license plate XNX: 27…) that he used. This letter, which is available to our newspaper, is numbered 567, and today, the monk Damaskinos presents it as proof of being “threatened and extorted.”
However, it wasn’t just the two brothers who continued to work behind the scenes—see Panos Kammenos—to ensure that their “backs were covered” with the election of their own Archimandrite Melchisedek as the local Metropolitan. Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, as well as Dora Bakoyannis, in complete harmony with the Patriarchate, pushed for Melchisedek to take over the vacant position of Metropolitan of Kydonia and Apokoronas. At the same time, the oldest of the two mafia brothers, aged 57, wanted to get the convicted godfather of the Mitsotakis family, who had served as Traffic Police Chief and Police Union Leader in the region, released from prison. The 55-year-old is currently incarcerated, having been sentenced in February by the Chania Criminal Court of Appeals to 11 years without parole for being the godfather in Chania.
The imprisoned police officer was in phone contact with the 57-year-old mafia godfather, who claimed he could exert improper influence, acting as an “intermediary” with two senior judicial officials (one is a Court of Appeals president) to help secure a favorable appeals decision for him. The union leader had also been a bodyguard for former Chania MP Stelios Nikiforakis, who was a trusted figure of Konstantinos Mitsotakis, and even baptized the grandson of the current prime minister.
The Two Archimandrites Pretend Not to Know the “Godfathers”
The two Archimandrites are acting as though they have no knowledge of the “negotiations” with the hotelier-godfather who appears to have illegally taken possession of a prime property in the Stauros area of the Monastery of Agia Triada. After the scandal erupted, they tried everything they could to have Melchisedek, the priest of Sternes parish, take over the vacant position of Metropolitan of Kydonia and Apokoronas. The 57-year-old defendant was negotiating with the brothers, and even a wiretap caught him trying to offer a piece of the relic of Saint Lazarus to the 57-year-old mafia godfather. Melchisedek even went so far as to publicly declare on camera, “The ‘pink video’ does not concern me.”
On the other hand, Archimandrite Damaskinos, the former abbot of the monastery, defends the land certification he issued to the 57-year-old, which was revealed by our newspaper and is an extremely damaging piece of evidence in the case. He says, “The 175 acres are not a donation, as far as I know. This area does not belong to the monastery’s 700 acres. The certification was for a stone-built mountain, which the two brothers had claimed ownership of through prescription.”
As for the “pink” extortion involving the two brothers with morally and legally questionable video material, allegedly featuring him as part of the blackmail, he says, “I don’t know anything about a ‘pink’ video or photos, and they never showed me anything like that to threaten me. The greatest threat they made to me was when I started the lawsuit process; they called me and said I wouldn’t finish the lawsuit. And indeed, I didn’t finish it, because the topographic maps were missing,” claims the clergyman.
He Declares “Uninvolved”
However, Archimandrite Melchisedek also declares “uninvolved,” even though the 57-year-old mafia godfather was desperately trying to have him become the Metropolitan of Kydonia and Apokoronas after the death of the local Metropolitan. The “hotelier” wanted to “secure” that after the death of the local Metropolitan, his successor would not “stir up” the sale of the monastery land. However, the 57-year-old, during phone conversations, demanded as “compensation” a piece of Saint Lazarus’ relic and part of the True Cross, which Melchisedek possessed.
Melchisedek now claims, “He asked me to go to his place, where he has a chapel, to perform a blessing. Since this chapel is named after Saint Lazarus and I have a relic of him in my possession, I said I would bring the icon for you to venerate and receive the blessing. Since it has been said that there are some ‘pink’ videos involving a cleric, that cleric is not me.” When asked why the alleged head of the mafia network was relentlessly requesting from Panos Kammenos for Melchisedek to become Metropolitan, Melchisedek answered, “I can’t know that. I’m not on the list of candidates for that position,” concluded the archimandrite.
