Greek investigators censured in wiretap death case

By Tony Rigopoulos

ATHENS

Greek investigators failed to probe the sudden death of a telecoms operator who died a day before a major wiretapping scandal broke in 2005, a European court ruled on Thursday.

The European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) said the Greek authorities failed in the case of Costas Tsakalidis, who was found hanging in his apartment one day before the Athens government was informed about the interception of more than 100 cellphones in March 2005.

This scandal reached deep into the heart of the then government, including Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis plus many senior Cabinet members and military officers.

A day before Tsakalidis was found dead, senior officials at Vodafone deactivated a newly discovered software bug which had been planted by persons unknown.

Since then, Tsakalidis’s death has been investigated by the Greek authorities twice. The first probe, conducted right after his death, concluded there was no indication of any criminal act.

However, his family insist Tsakalidis’s death was not suicide, and brought their case to the ECHR.

The authorities agreed to reopen the case in 2012 after new evidence was brought by Tsakalidis’s family, but it was archived upon a ruling by the public prosecutor.

In February 2015, the Greek authorities issued an international arrest warrant for a Greek-origin CIA official, identified as William George Basil, who was considered to have been a key figure in the wiretapping operation.

The ECHR said in today’s ruling that “it was not even clear on what grounds the public prosecutor had based his decision not to prosecute or to order further investigative measures”.

“The Court considered that the Greek authorities had failed to carry out an adequate and effective investigation into the death of Costas Tsalikidis,” it added.

Greece has paid the applicants jointly €50,000 ($59,000) in damages and €4,000 ($4,700) for costs and expenses.