Sky ECC trial at Athens Court of Appeal: eight defendants, three police officers
Greece's first trial based on evidence from encrypted Sky ECC phones has begun at the Athens Court of Appeal. Five criminals and three police officers are in the dock.
Greece's first Sky ECC trial: legal battle over the admissibility of evidence
Greece's first trial based entirely on data from encrypted Sky ECC phones began on Monday at the Athens Court of Appeal, according to reporting by TA NEA. The case involves eight defendants — five with criminal records and three police officers, among them a former senior official from the Drug Prosecution Directorate.
The three police officers are alleged to have supported a criminal network and facilitated the trafficking of large quantities of cocaine and cannabis from Latin America to Europe. The charges are based on message exchanges recovered after the Sky ECC code was "cracked".
The Europol operation in 2021
In 2021, French, Belgian and Dutch authorities succeeded in decrypting communications from Sky ECC phones, which were widely used by criminal networks across Europe. Under the coordination of Europol, the resulting data was distributed to the competent authorities of various member states, including Greece.
The data transmitted to the Greek authorities came from the French services. According to the case file, no money or drugs have been found or seized that directly link the defendants to the alleged activities.
Challenging the admissibility of evidence
From the first hearing, defence counsels focused on the legality of the manner in which evidence was collected. Their central argument is that the warrant for lifting the confidentiality of communications was issued after the data was received and processed — not before, as required by lawful procedure.
According to this reasoning, the French authorities collected the conversations of defendants located on Greek territory and transmitted them to Greece, where they were examined before the relevant judicial authorisation was issued. Lawyers for some defendants have already challenged the European Investigation Order under which the material was collected. The Court of Appeal considered that it has no jurisdiction to determine the manner in which the data was collected, and the matter is now pending before the Supreme Court.
"Violation of territorial sovereignty" and reference to Predator-type software
Defence counsel Chrysanthi Chatzidimitriou highlighted that the French authorities carried out investigative procedures on Greek territory without observing lawful formalities, characterising this as a "violation of Greek territorial sovereignty". She also stated that "malicious Predator-type software" — the use of which is prohibited in Greece — was used to gain access to communications of an indefinite number of persons and for an indefinite period of time.
She further noted that, although Sky ECC phones are primarily associated with criminal groups, it cannot be ruled out that they were also used by private individuals, businesspeople or politicians who simply desired secure communication methods.
Request for suspension and revelation of evidence tampering
Defence counsels asked the court to suspend proceedings pending the Supreme Court's decision on the admissibility of the data. The court rejected this request by majority at the first hearing.
However, Chatzidimitriou made an additional disclosure concerning her client — a person who, according to the indictment, held a leadership role in the criminal organisation. By comparing the original data transmitted by France to the Greek authorities with that included in the court documents, she discovered that her client's name had been added retroactively next to the identification code of a Sky ECC phone number in the relevant report.
According to the counsel, this element constitutes the only link of the defendant to the case. She characterised it as evidence tampering, abuse of power, dereliction of duty and unlawful targeting. Her client has filed a complaint against police officers from the Internal Affairs Service who conducted the pre-investigation, as well as against the main prosecution witness.
The court confirmed that the retroactive addition of the name is genuine. The trial continues, with the critical Supreme Court decision pending — if the data is found to be unlawful, the entire indictment risks collapsing.
Source: ΤΑ ΝΕΑ