Sydney just posted this at the Trouble in Paradise forum.
Dear Mr Karamanlis / press secretary
The following situation has been covered extensively by the media - by Eleftherotypia, Xaniotika Nea, CNET/ZD News in the UK and Australia, The Register in the UK, IDG News in Sweden, amongst others.
The following situation has been brought to the attention of leading computer security experts in the United Kingdom, the United States, and within the United States Department of Defense, amongst others.
The following situation has been brought to the attention of hundreds of thousands of individuals worldwide who know Rick Downes well - and respect him.
It has been several months since I last wrote to you; during this time both nothing - and at the same time many things - have happened:
On the off-chance you don't remember, Mr Downes was illegally arrested on 26 October 2005 by the Chania tourist police; he was charged with drug trafficking and his computer equipment was confiscated for investigation. Mr Downes is today a semi-paraplegic, and his continuing interest in computer science and security is his only interest.
Rick Downes is an internationally acclaimed and respected computer scientist, long specialising in taking care of the 'common man' and in defending the rights of the common man against corporate and political abuses of power. There is therefore no small amount of irony in this present situation.
The arrest was illegal by both EU and Greek standards due to lack of 'reasonable suspicion'. The only preliminary 'evidence' which led to his arrest was the word of a Chania businesswoman who claimed that after meeting Mr Downes she began to receive emails offering over the counter prescription drugs. The emails in question did not appear to be from Mr Downes nor did they lead to his websites.
I know this because we were shown the emails by the police during the 'interview'. In fact, the only link to Mr Downes was the unsubstantiated claim by Georgia Atsalaki that she only received such correspondence after meeting Mr Downes. (It should be pointed out that Ms Atsalaki is a travel agent: it is unlikely, if not impossible, that she didn't meet ANY other person prior to getting these emails.
Nonetheless, district attorney Mrs Lampropoulou Olivia considered this 'word of mouth' enough to issue a command for the arrest and seizure of Mr Downes' property. That the police did not understand the absurdity of the Atsalaki claim is not surprising; what is astounding is that knowing their own ignorance, they did not first call someone at the Athens Computer Crime lab or the Computer Science department at the University of Heraklion. If they had but called a computer specialist, they would have been told that the accusation was groundless and should not be pursued. But they did NOT consult an expert; they chose instead to barge forward and flagrantly violate the civil rights of a citizen of Sweden and the European Union.
If the Chania police had arrested Mr Downes because Ms Atsalaki claimed he made her sick, swift action would have been taken. If her 'evidence' was solely her word that she'd never gotten sick prior to meeting him, the district attorney would have thrown out the case. The absurdity of this claim is the same, but the Greek legal system is taking cover behind its ignorance of 'high-tech' and is standing its ground and insisting the case must be investigated in this ridiculous and fruitless fashion. I should not have to tell you how this makes both the Greek legal system and the Greek technology community look ridiculous.
Christos Michalidis wrote in Eleftherotypia on 17 November 2005 that GREECE MUST WEAR ITS ROBE OF SHAME FOR THIS ARREST. I agree with him.
And what has happened with this case in the past 4 months?
1. Six days after confiscating the computer (in its unlocked case) the Athens Crime lab broke the computer case (value: 150 euros) because someone in the police had turned the combination locks. They refused to wait 6 hours for Mr Downes to be contacted to provide the combination code. They threatened to keep the computer equipment FOR A YEAR if they were not immediately given the combination (which they themselves had bungled) or given permission to destroy the case. At the time, I thought their panic and 'hurry' was a good sign: it might mean a faster return of Mr Downes' property. Such 'high hopes'!
2. A friend in the Athens crime lab who were investigating the computer stated that over three months ago the crime lab technicians were through looking at the computer; not surprisingly they found no evidence whatsoever. THIS WAS OVER THREE MONTHS AGO. We are still waiting for the return of the computer equipment and the inevitable dismissal of these silly charges against Mr Downes.
3. Chief of Xania tourist police Nektarios Andreadakis told Mr Downes and myself that we were not the problem. He said - and we have two witnesses to this conversation - 'the problem is GEORGIA ATSALAKI'. Yet Ms Atsalaki is not charged with drug trafficking, nor has her property been confiscated, or damaged, or held for more than 4 months without legitimate reason.
4. Due to the international press coverage, we were contacted by dozens of Greek computer scientists from around the world who apologised and offered support and RAGED that their BELOVED HOMELAND could be so far behind the rest of the world and treat the well known Rick Downes in this shameless fashion.
5. Due to the same press coverage, we were contacted by a few angry Greeks, mostly in Athens, who expressed outrage that I would dare to write the Prime Minister and that we would demand swift action from the legal system. We were vaguely threatened and overtly told to allow 'justice to do her work'. Justice? This is justice? Innocent people spend sleepless nights and are prevented from doing their life's work because a woman made a baseless claim - even when it is brought to the attention of the people who should WANT to rectify it, nothing is done! This is JUSTICE? No it is not - but it is, certainly, life in Greece. And right now, as the media pay close attention to this case, 'life in Greece' is becoming more and more well known around the globe. Where are the robes of shame in which the responsible parties should drape themselves?
6. Due to the overt article in Xaniotika Nea stating that a Swede was arrested for drug trafficking in our village, and due to the fact that Mr Downes is the only Swede in our village, many people now assume that he is guilty of this crime. The police gave this information to the press - bragging as it were that they were big-time crime busters! This is illegal as well, as you know.
7. Fair Trials Abroad have approached several Greek ministers in Brussels on behalf of Mr Downes. The ministers have hesitated to interfere with an 'ongoing investigation'. It seems that the district attorney is aware that as long as she holds this case under wraps she will be safe - they can claim the investigation is not complete (while we know it was completed over three months ago). The punch line - their sole means of protecting themselves at this point - is that no one is allowed access to their dossier until they've closed the matter - something that in the case of an illegal arrest with international repercussions is going to be extremely embarrassing and dangerous for them.
And what has not happened in the past 4 months?
1. Despite lack of evidence and the admission from most authorities that Mr Downes is innocent - the serious charges have not been dismissed.
2. Despite many letters to your office, neither Mr Downes nor myself have heard a word from anyone in your government. For a government bent on clearing out corruption, your administration are taking a coy 'hands-off' position on this.
3. Despite the crime lab's being finished with the computer for over THREE MONTHS, it has NOT been returned, nor have we been told of an official position by the district attorney. The secretary of the district attorney told me a 'proposal' has been submitted to the court, but upon further investigation, this proved to be a lie. Since the computer equipment is the sole piece of evidence, it would seem that if it has no evidence of crime on it, the charges should be dropped and the property returned IMMEDIATELY. There is no reason why this should take any longer than it takes the district attorney to review the findings and decide there is - indeed - no case. There is no reason why there should be months of waiting for some court to officially clear charges which should never have been brought. Not unless, of course, that personal interests in that office now prevail - in which case the international media will have even more fun with it.
I appreciate if you have in fact taken the time to read this letter or at least assigned the matter to one of your assistants - but I'd appreciate it more if you or someone could light a fire under the district attorney and the rest of the system here and get this matter resolved immediately. The longer it drags on, the worse it looks - not for us, but for Greece.
Sincerely,
Sydney Phillips