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The founder of Ark of the World, a well-known charity that runs homes and support programs for vulnerable children and families, has been handed a 9-and-a-half-year prison sentence after an appeals court found him guilty of a string of offenses linked to disciplinary practices inside the group’s facilities.
Antonios Papanikolaou was sentenced by Greece’s Three-Member Court of Appeal for Misdemeanors, which merged several penalties into one. However, judges allowed the sentence to be converted into a fine of 10 euros per day. In practical terms, that means he can avoid prison if he pays about €60,000.
The ruling is tougher than the earlier trial decision, which had given him just over four years, also convertible to a payment, and allowed him to remain free while appealing.
Several former associates were also convicted. A former board member received more than four and a half years, and a former employee just over three years, while two former staff members from the charity’s facility in Volos got shorter sentences. Two of those sentences can also be turned into fines, while the others were suspended.
The court also took the unusual step of sending part of the case file to the Athens First Instance Prosecutor's Office to investigate four witnesses for possible perjury, along with anyone suspected of pushing or helping them give false testimony. Prosecutors will now examine whether pressure or manipulation played a role.
Papanikolaou was not represented by lawyers when the decision was announced because his legal team had stepped down earlier, claiming the court was biased. Without a lawyer present, no request was made for leniency on his behalf.
Two co-defendants argued they deserved lighter treatment, saying they acted under his influence and felt obliged to obey him. Prosecutors rejected that argument, telling the court the acts were extreme and clearly wrong, stressing that violence against minors cannot be justified as discipline. Judges ultimately granted them reduced sentences only because of good behavior after the incidents — not because they were following orders.
Ark of the World, once widely praised for its charitable work, has been under intense scrutiny since allegations about conditions and treatment inside some of its facilities surfaced, leading to investigations, trials, and now this latest ruling.
