GREEK PRIVACY RULES THWART INVESTIGATIONS

C O N F I D E N T I A L ATHENS 000727 SIPDIS AMEMBASSY ANKARA PASS TO AMCONSUL ADANA AMEMBASSY ASTANA PASS TO USOFFICE ALMATY AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL DUSSELDORF AMEMBASSY BERLIN PASS TO AMCONSUL LEIPZIG AMEMBASSY BELGRADE PASS TO AMEMBASSY PODGORICA AMEMBASSY HELSINKI PASS TO AMCONSUL ST PETERSBURG AMEMBASSY ATHENS PASS TO AMCONSUL THESSALONIKI AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL VLADIVOSTOK AMEMBASSY MOSCOW PASS TO AMCONSUL YEKATERINBURG E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/05/06 TAGS: ASEC ABLD PREL PTER KCRM GR SUBJECT: GREEK PRIVACY RULES THWART INVESTIGATIONS REF: ATHENS 683 CLASSIFIED BY: Thomas S. Miller, Acting DCM; REASON: 1.4(B),(D) ¶1. (SBU) According to a May 5 article in the newspaper Eleftheros Typos, Greek police utilizing video evidence have "positively" identified three hooded vandals who were among the forty who took part in a midday rampage in the upscale Kolonaki Square area of Athens on March 13. The attackers used sledge hammers and rocks to smash shop windows and cars, and they escaped without arrests. In the ensuing investigation police have reportedly used surveillance footage and video volunteered by a local resident who captured images of the gang as it prepared for the attack in a nearby staging area. Despite this identification, under Greece's "personal data protection" law, the police are not permitted to use video surveillance evidence to arrest or charge the suspects, and this evidence will not be used in Greek courts. ¶2. (C) Comment: This is a real-world example of the legal restrictions that inhibit Greek law enforcement officials to a greater extent than their counterparts elsewhere in Europe, constraining their ability to deal with security threats, including those posed by domestic and international terrorists (reftel). The Greek government's Data Protection Authority, an independent commission responsible for enforcing Greece's stringent data privacy laws, has ruled that the use of cameras for any purpose other than traffic control is unconstitutional. Despite this, the government installed surveillance cameras prior to the 2004 Olympics, but the issue remained controversial and after the Olympics the cameras were turned off. Some were reportedly reactivated in April 2009 in response to increased security concerns after the December 2008 riots and subsequent domestic terrorist attacks, but their legality is disputed and the footage they produce is not admissible in courts. Even private filming of other individuals is prohibited, and it is not out of the realm of possibility that some of the gang members in the Kolonaki incident will sue the private individual who gave video to the police for violating their privacy rights. As this case demonstrates, Greek police do use video evidence when they have it as part of their investigations - legally or not - but if they cannot find human witnesses to testify to seeing the same things, no court will ever hear of them. SPECKHARD