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OO RUEHAG RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHTH #0727 1261402
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O R 061403Z MAY 09
FM AMEMBASSY ATHENS
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0151
INFO EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHTH/AMEMBASSY ATHENS C O N F I D E N T I A L ATHENS 000727 
 
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E.O. 12958: DECL: 2019/05/06 
TAGS:            
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