Greek court orders new probe in wiretapping death case

By Tony Rigopoulos

ATHENS (AA) - The Greek Appeals Court on Wednesday ordered a new probe to ascertain the cause of death of a former Vodafone employee that was said to be linked to a major wiretapping scandal.

Costas Tsalikidis was found hanged on March 9, 2005, a day before the Greek government was informed of a major wiretap which included then Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis, members of the Cabinet and Greek Military senior officers.

Public Prosecutor Grigoris Peponis will be in charge of the third probe on Tsalikidis’s death.

The probe follows a European Court of Human Rights decision made on Nov. 16, 2017.

The European court had concluded that “Greek authorities had failed to carry out an adequate and effective investigation into the death of Costas Tsalikidis”.

His death was investigated twice by Greek authorities in 2005 and 2012. It was considered a suicide act and the case was archived upon ruling by the public prosecutor.

Tsakalidis’s family insisted his death was the result of a criminal act and brought the case to the European Court of Human Rights.