The Athens Prosecutor’s Office has decided to transfer the wiretapping case file to the Supreme Court for its main aspects, including charges related to espionage crimes. Meanwhile, the Athens Prosecutor’s Office will continue investigating matters related to false testimonies and moral complicity in the aforementioned crimes.
The Supreme Court Prosecutor’s Office had conducted the preliminary examination of the case, which resulted in referring four individuals to the Athens Misdemeanor Court, which ultimately sentenced them to multi-year prison terms.
The Athens Prosecutor’s Office studied the multi-page court decision that concluded additional investigations were necessary for the case, targeting individuals who had previously escaped prosecution.
Specifically, the Athens Misdemeanor Court, after a months-long hearing process, concluded that the justice system must examine other aspects of the case. In the coming days, a supreme prosecutorial official is expected to be appointed to handle this case, according to public reports.
The second aspect of the court-ordered investigation is also significant, focusing on key executives of the companies under examination who, as characteristically stated, “were not merely executive instruments of the defendants, but had equally complete knowledge and decisive authority over the businesses.”
This practically means that all individuals covered by this specific investigation will be examined, and if ultimately referred to court, they will be tried for the same crimes for which their employers have been convicted. The investigation of these individuals must be completed as soon as possible to avoid statute of limitations issues.
“The Athens Prosecutor’s Office decision to transfer to the Supreme Court rather than process the misdemeanor acts involving 9 accomplices of the already convicted defendants is high-risk, as we are already in statute of limitations territory. In any case, the credibility of Justice must be protected. It would be unacceptable for some not to be held accountable for very serious acts due to delays by Prosecutorial Authorities,” emphasizes lawyer Zacharias Kesses in his statement.
The Prosecutor’s Office “retained” investigations concerning false testimony regarding what Stamatis Tribalis, who appeared as the legal representative of Krikel company, had testified to Parliament during its investigation of the wiretapping scandal. Testifying in court, he had revealed he was a “strawman” acting on behalf of businessman Giannis Lavranos, who was also convicted in first instance and, based on the decision, is sought to be examined for moral complicity in perjury.
Additionally, the prosecution will investigate potential perjury regarding testimony given in court by the holder of the prepaid card from which the infected message was sent to PASOK president Nikos Androulakis, as well as testimony from a former Krikel executive.
