A ruling issued on Thursday by a Council of Court of Appeals Judges decided in favour of the release of Vatopedi Monastery Abbot Ephraim, who was being held in custody as a suspect in the controversial land swap case involving the Greek state and the Vatopedi Monastery on Mt. Athos.

The council decided that Abbot Ephraim will be released with conditions after posting a 300,000 euro bail. According to the ruling, Abbot Ephraim will have to appear regularly at a police station while he is banned from leaving the monastery grounds.

The council accepted a relevant proposal submitted by a court of appeals prosecutor who had disagreed with the examining judge’s position that the abbot should be held on remand pending trial.

A petition filed by Abbot Ephraim last December for his release had been rejected by the examining judge despite the prosecutor’s disagreement.