Conviction of former drug enforcement officer in Greece's first Sky ECC trial
A three-judge felony court convicted a former drug enforcement official on all charges in the Sky ECC trial. It was the first trial in the country based on data from the encrypted phones.
First Sky ECC conviction in Greece: Former drug enforcement officer found guilty
A three-judge felony court found a former drug enforcement official guilty on all charges against him in the high-profile trial over encrypted Sky ECC phones, according to Bloko.gr. Two other accused police officers — another former drug enforcement official and an employee of the Internal Affairs department — were acquitted.
A total of eight people were in the dock: five criminals and three police officers. Most were accused of participating in or facilitating a network involved in trafficking large quantities of drugs from Latin America to Europe, with the accused communicating with each other via encrypted devices.
For the main criminal defendant, the court decided to separate the case in order to determine with certainty his identity — specifically, whether the voice heard in audio messages sent from a specific Sky ECC phone PIN matched his voice.
One more defendant was convicted on all charges: membership in a criminal organisation, drug trafficking and bribery by continuance. The representative and seller of Sky ECC in Greece, as described in the case file, was found guilty of one act of trafficking; however, the court accepted the claim of previous conviction and rejected the charge of membership in a criminal organisation, acquitting him of both the charge and its formation.
Of the remaining defendants, one was discharged from the charge of membership in a criminal organisation but found guilty of trafficking by continuance of two acts — involving 15 kilograms of cannabis and cocaine. The final defendant was found guilty of both membership in the organisation and trafficking.
This trial was the first in Greece based exclusively on data from the "cracking" of Sky ECC mobile phones by French authorities. In 2021, European authorities decrypted the system and gained access to millions of exchanges between users across the continent. Subsequently, "packages" of data were transmitted to various countries — including Greece — for cases concerning mainly drug trafficking.
The Athens trial is among very few pan-European cases in which police officers appeared in the dock for a Sky ECC matter. Among the defence arguments was that the application data were acquired in a non-transparent manner, with some lawyers even speaking of the use of "malicious software". As other cases in the country based on Sky ECC data are pending, this decision may shape the framework for evaluating their lawfulness by Greek courts.
Source: Bloko.gr