The Paphos Criminal Court rejected the prosecution’s application to hold the Phedon Phedonos trial behind closed doors on Wednesday, with the suspended Paphos mayor going on to deny all charges against him.
The court ruled that the charges be read to Phedonos without reference to the complainant’s name. He denied all charges.
The prosecution had opened proceedings by applying for the entire trial to be conducted behind closed doors, citing the need to protect the complainant and invoking Article 32 of the Constitution and victim protection legislation.
The prosecution representative said the indictment contained details of the case and the complainant’s name, which required protection, and that certain references in the second charge could not be omitted.
“We want to protect the victim. There are acts and details attributed in the charges. These are particularly sensitive matters,” she said.
Defence lawyer Christos Pourgourides objected, arguing that at the current stage of proceedings the charges could be read without any reference to the complainant’s name. The court president agreed, noting that such a reference could be avoided, and adjourned briefly before issuing its ruling.
Phedonos faces charges of rape, indecent assault, administering a substance to stupefy with intent to commit a felony or misdemeanour, and assault causing actual bodily harm.
Case background
Phedonos was suspended from the mayoralty of Paphos in February 2026 after Paphos land developer Theodoros Aristodemou publicly accused him of raping a woman around ten years earlier and gave a statement to police. The alleged incident is said to have taken place in 2014.
Following an investigation by a specially constituted team that took more than 20 statements — including from individuals who held public office at the time — Phedonos was indicted on four charges: rape, indecent assault, administering a substance to stupefy with intent to commit a felony or misdemeanour, and assault causing actual bodily harm.
The suspended mayor faced a separate investigation into an allegation of assault against his wife, which was launched ex officio following social media posts by social media personality ‘Annie Alexoui’.
His wife had requested that the investigation into the alleged violence be discontinued.
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