5.  The applicants are the brother and the parents of Mr Costas Tsalikidis, who was found dead on 9 March 2005.
6.  Mr Tsalikidis was Network Planning Manager for V., a mobile phone operator. On 9 March 2005 he was found dead in his apartment by his mother (the second applicant). He was found hanged by a rope tied to pipes above the bathroom door and a chair lay knocked over on the floor nearby. A little later his brother, the first applicant, arrived at the scene and used a knife to cut through the rope. He then placed his brother’s body on the bed in his bedroom and took photographs of it.
7.  The applicants called Kolonos Police Station and the police sergeant in charge, acting as an interrogation officer, arrived at the scene to conduct an on-site inspection. In his report he stated that there were no signs of forced entry at any of the entrances to the residence, and no footprints or other marks on the balcony. He also noted that there was no mess in the residence nor were there any suspicious packets of drugs or other substances in the apartment or in the refuse containers. He did not conduct a search for fingerprints. No photos were taken of the place of death and no DNA test was performed on the rope by which Mr Tsalikidis was hanged. There was no suicide note.
8.  The body was transferred to the morgue, where an autopsy was performed on the body the next day by G.D.L., a coroner with the Forensic Medical Service of Athens. On 20 April 2005 he wrote an autopsy report in which he stated that there were no injuries to the body and that there were signs of pulmonary oedema. The rope mark encircled the cervical spine with a knot at the right of the occiput (κυκλικά φερόμενη με κόμπο στη δεξιά ινιακή χώρα). The toxicology examination showed a small amount of alcohol at 0.12%. The hyoid bone and larynx appeared normal. It was concluded that the cause of death was hanging by a noose (απαγχονισμός δια βρόγχου). No inspection of the place of death was performed by the coroner and in his report neither the temperature nor the weight of the body was recorded.
9.  On 9 February 2006, following the public announcement concerning the wiretapping case (see §§ 14 – 17 below) and while the investigation into his brother’s death was still ongoing, the first applicant lodged a criminal complaint with the public prosecutor’s office, asking for the scope of the investigation to be expanded. He requested in particular that the authorities examine the possible connection between his brother’s death and the wiretapping case and investigate crimes that might possibly have been committed against him, such as homicide or extortion. He also requested the exhumation of his brother’s body in order to search for specific poisons and other signs of homicide and declared his wish to join the proceedings as a civil party.
10.  Various witness testimonies were taken from colleagues, friends and family members of the deceased. In her testimonies dated 12 and 17 March 2005 and 7 February 2006, his fiancée stated that she had spoken twice with him on the phone the night preceding his death without noticing anything particular. She expressed the view that he could not possibly have committed suicide, citing the fact that two days before he had asked her to book rooms for an excursion they were planning to make two weeks later and that he had expressed concerns about his mother’s health. Lastly, she stated that about a month before his death he had confided to her that “it was a matter of life and death for him to leave his job with V.” and that “V. was facing a serious problem that threatened its very existence”.
11.  From the testimonies of his colleagues and his fiancée it was evident that Mr Tsalikidis was sociable and had been well-respected in his work environment. Even though he had been under a lot of pressure at work, his colleagues expressed doubts as to whether stress could have driven him to suicide. He had expressed a wish to quit his job about a month before his death but had later changed his mind after a few days’ leave. On the night of his death he had sent a work-related email to his colleagues at around 4.30 a.m. The content of the email was unremarkable. It was also alleged that on 7 March 2005 there had been a tense meeting at work in which he, amongst others, had been reprimanded by his superiors. His colleagues also testified that he had been responsible for holding monthly meetings with company E., one of V.’s providers, at which they discussed new versions of software and other technical issues.
12.  Testimony was also taken from coroner F.K., the head of the Forensic Science Service of Athens University. In his statement dated 9 March 2006, he attempted to explain the lack of typical signs of hanging – such as injuries caused by body spasms or cyanosis of the face – by attributing the death to cardiac arrest caused by simultaneous pressure to the two carotid arteries. He also mentioned that the rope mark on the deceased man’s neck had been typical in cases of hanging; it had been obliquely directed (λοξά φερόμενη) and the knot had been an “ordinary, everyday knot”. In his view, a possible exhumation and/or toxicology test would be of no added value.
13.  In the light of the foregoing testimonies and having taken all evidence into account, on 20 June 2006 the public prosecutor at the Athens Court of First Instance issued order no. 80/20-6-06 archiving the case, having concluded that there were no indications of any criminal acts committed against Mr Tsalikidis, even though his death was causally linked with the wiretapping case. On 25 September 2006 the decision was upheld by order no. 565/25-9-06 issued by the public prosecutor at the Court of Appeal following an appeal against it by the first applicant.
14.  On 2 February 2006 the Minister of Public Order made a statement informing the public that since June 2004 (two months before the Olympic Games) the telephones of many state officials had been tapped through spyware that had been implanted in the network of phone operator V. The wiretap, installed by persons unknown, had targeted more than 100 of Greece’s State officials, including the Prime Minister and many senior members of the Cabinet. The spyware diverted phone conversations made by V.’s subscribers to fourteen “shadow” pay-as-you-go mobile phones, allowing calls to be monitored.
15.  Following a parliamentary investigation, it was made known that the unauthorised spyware had been implanted in a software provided by company E. to phone operator V. Mr Tsalikidis had been responsible for accepting the software from E. on behalf of V. and met representatives from E. on a monthly basis in order to discuss new versions of the software and other technical issues.
16.  V. was informed by E. that their network had been used to wiretap State officials on 4 March 2005. On 8 March 2005 G.K., a senior manager with V., ordered that the newly discovered software be deactivated and removed from its systems. On 10 March 2005 he informed the Ministers of Justice and of Public Order and the director of the Prime Minister’s office about the existence of the software. A criminal investigation was ordered but its conclusions are not apparent from the material in the Court’s possession.
17.  The wiretapping affair assumed large dimensions both within and outside Greece, and the investigation was widely reported in the media. Mr Tsalikidis’ death occurred the day after the spyware had been removed from V.’s network and the day before the relevant ministers were informed and this fact was mentioned in all the newspaper articles, suggesting an association between his death and the wiretapping affair without his involvement in the case being established.
18.  On 8 February 2012, citing new evidence, the applicants requested that the public prosecutor at the Athens Court of First Instance reopen the case file for the purposes either of initiating criminal proceedings in rem for intentional homicide and/or exposure to peril and/or felonious extortion, or for launching a supplementary preliminary investigation into the aforementioned offences or any other offence that might have been committed. The applicants also declared that they wished to join the proceedings as civil parties.
19.  The first evidence submitted by the applicants was a forensic report dated 12 November 2010 prepared at their request by a British expert, Dr S.K. The expert wrote his report − in English − on the basis of his examination of a number of documents from the case file which had been translated into that language. The relevant parts of his report read as follows:
“... 2. In forming my opinion I have had to rely on a relatively limited group of materials including the original autopsy report translated by Mr Peter Tsalikidis, a set of colour scene photographs (it is not clear to me who took these photographs), scans of white and black photos showing an unclothed body with a ligature mark on mid‑-neck (the detail is poor) and a website videos that were produced for an exposé produced by the Al-Jazeera network.
... 5. On April 8 I received two emails from Mr Tsalikidis. The first was an extract of comments taken from a report issued by the Forensic Institute in Athens. The report states that the ligature was “upwardly directed”, a statement that appears to be contradicted by the photographs I have seen. Mr Tsalikidis also claims he was told that “the death was instant because of simultaneous pressure to the carotid bags (sic - this should be ‘arteries’)”. This statement, too, is inconsistent with the normal colouration of the face as shown in the photographs. 6. On March 29 I was sent a link to a website dedicated to this case... The video also contains several images and statements that are confusing. These include (1) photograph of the suspensory knot – it is a complex knot, and definitely not the sort of knots seen in routine suicides. I do not know if the deceased possessed the requisite skills needed to tie such a complex knot. The video narrator stated that the body was hanging 3 inches from the floor. In spite of the short distance, it is possible for someone to hang themselves at this low height. In fact, it is not uncommon.
... 8. ... The photographs do show that the deceased was unclothed; they also showed an obvious ligature mark that was located in mid-neck, parallel to the shoulders.
...
Gross Autopsy Findings 10. Neither the height nor the weight of the deceased was supplied. Neither the core temperature of the cadaver nor the ambient room temperature was recorded. It appears that the autopsy was performed the next day, but whether the cadaver was refrigerated is not stated and, since core temperature was not obtained, it would have been irrelevant anyway. No attempt whatsoever was made to identify the time of death... No fibres were taken from the ligature for identification and no tissue taken from the ligature were taken for microscopic examination.
Discussion 1. The position of the rope mark is more consistent with strangulation than hanging – in cases of strangulation the ligature mark, as it was here, tends to encircle the entire neck without deviation upward or downward, and almost invariable there is a gap where the rope suspends the body. Hanging marks are almost always higher on the neck than strangulation marks. The marks present here are more consistent with strangulation. 2. From the photographs I saw there was no evidence of hypostasis (accumulation of blood in the legs that is to be expected after a normal hanging). This argues strongly against hanging.
... 4. Perhaps more importantly, one expects to see some sort of soft tissue damage within the underlying neck. Injuries are present in at least 1/3 of hangings. No damage was seen within the neck, which is worrisome. The absence of soft tissue injury does not rule out hanging, but if it had been present, a much more convincing case for strangulation could have been made. 5. Damage to the lining of the great vessels in the neck is a frequent finding in strangulation, but that examination was never performed (in fact, no microscopic examination was performed). This means the autopsy was incomplete by U.S. and EU standards. 6. The colour of the face could only be described as normal; typically, victims of manual strangulation will have deeply congested haemorrhagic faces, but victims of hanging often have pale faces – in this particular instance the colour of the face is so normal that it almost appears that neither strangulation nor hanging occurred. 7. While adequate examination is not possible only from inspecting photographs, the knot used to anchor the rope appears quite complex. This might be expected if the deceased had nautical experience, but the family insists he did not. 8. Homicidal hanging is very rare, since it is very difficult for one person to hang another, unless of course they had been drugged first. The autopsy report says that blood and urine were tested for alcohol and that the results show the deceased had been drinking (post-mortem alcohol production of that magnitude does not occur that quickly). I think it would be very important to know if any other drugs were present. If testing was not done at the time of autopsy, exhumation and testing of the hair is still possible. The results, whether positive or negative, would be definitive. 9. The medical examiner commented on the presence of pulmonary oedema. Such may occur after hanging, but histological studies have shown that pulmonary oedema is much more common after strangulation. 10. There were no scratch marks on the neck, suggesting the deceased made no effort to claw the rope away from his neck. This is also consistent with his having been sedated.
Discussion
Obviously, there is no evidence of forceful strangulation and, in the absence of visible trauma, homicidal hanging would appear to be out of the question. The fact that there was minimal suspension does not rule out suicide. Having said that, the case has a number of disturbing features: (1) the autopsy was grossly inadequate, and even if signs of homicide had been present, they would have been missed; (2) the face was of normal colour – neither congested nor pale; this argues for death before hanging; (3) there was no accumulation of blood in the lower extremities – this absence argues against hanging altogether; (4) the furrow around the neck is in a position more often seen in strangulation than suicide; (5) none of the normal scratch marks normally seen outside of the neck when individuals hang themselves were evident. Nor, according to the autopsy pathologist, there none of the soft tissue injuries that are normally expected in hanging. Two other issues are of concern: (1) was the deceased able to tie the complex knot used to support him, and (2) it appears that complete toxicology testing (was not) performed and that is a very serious omission. There are many poisons that are not detected by routine tests – they are only identified if they are specifically sought. In the absence to these questions, the possibility of murder must be strongly considered. The most likely scenario, based on the evidence at hand, is that the deceased was sedated/poisoned and hung after death.”
20.  The second evidence adduced by the applicants was an undated report produced at the applicants’ request by Coroner Th.V. His report was prepared on the basis of the documents in the criminal case file.
21.  Coroner Th.V. emphasised that any assessment of a forensic report should be done with great caution; nevertheless, he stressed that in the initial autopsy there had been serious omissions. He identified in particular the lack of reference to the existence or not of haemorrhagic infiltration where the rope was positioned, as well as the precise position of the rope with reference to the neck (obliquely or vertically directed). He further criticised the failure to search for injuries to the inner part of carotid arteries which could have shown whether Mr Tsalikidis had been hanged or strangled.
22.  Coroner Th. V. included in his report a number of elements of evidence which precluded certain conclusions as to the cause of death. In particular, he stressed the absence of signs usually found in cases of hanging, that is to say cyanosis of the face, oedema of the face, and projection of the tongue, all of which were not present in this case. He furthermore described as strange, taking account of the place where the body was hanging, the complete absence of any injuries resulting from the usual body spasms, causing it to crash against nearby furniture and walls.
23.  In respect of the written statement given by F.K., who attempted to explain the lack of typical signs of hanging by attributing Mr Tsalikidis’ death to cardiac arrest, coroner Th. V. stated that such manner of death was not very probable as it usually occurs in cases of pressure applied to the neck with the hands. In any event, this cause of death is still much debated in the medical community.
24.  Lastly, coroner Th.V. mentioned that a large number of poisons cannot be detected through routine examination. He opined that if exhumation of the body were to be ordered, then toxic substances could possibly be found as they can be detected even years later. A fresh examination of the place of death could also prove useful as long as the place was still intact. In any event, coroner Th. V. considered that the available evidence was not sufficient to allow it to be established whether Mr Tsalikidis’ death had been the result of suicide or homicide.
25.  As third evidence the applicants submitted a letter dated 15 June 2010 written by the President of the Committee on Institutions and Transparency of the Greek Parliament and addressed to the public prosecutor at the Court of Cassation in which the former expressed the view that there had not been sufficient investigation of the relationship between the death of Costas Tsalikidis and the wiretapping affair. They also cited a public statement made on 5 September 2011 by the former President of the Parliamentary Committee of Institutions and Transparency, who was then already Minister of Justice, that “the question of whether Costas Tsalikidis committed suicide or was murdered will always remain open”.
26.  In view of the above evidence, the applicants requested the reopening of the case file. They requested in particular that the following investigative measures be implemented: phone operator V. to be ordered to provide the minutes of the meeting that took place the day before Mr Tsalikidis was found dead, representatives of V. to confirm officially that Mr Tsalikidis was the person responsible for accepting on behalf of their company the legal software provided by company E. which was used to activate the program of wiretapping, a forensic examination of the place of death and a reconstruction of the circumstances of the death to be conducted, exhumation and new toxicology tests to be run, a cross‑examination of the applicants’ technical advisors together with coroners G.D.L. and F.K. to be organised, a new forensic report to be drawn up by another coroner, an expert report to be produced concerning the knot, technical advisors S.K. and Th. V. to be summoned to testify, and witness statements to be taken again in the light of the new evidence acquired. They stressed in particular that the scope of the investigation should include the deletion of the illegally installed software from the network of V. and why it was removed before the authorities had been informed.
27.  By document no. E 2006/1200/29-2-2012, issued by the public prosecutor at the Athens Court of First Instance on 29 February 2012 and addressed to the public prosecutor at the Athens Court of Appeal, approval was sought to reopen the case file pursuant to Article 43 § 3 (a) and Article 47 § 3 of the Code of Criminal Procedure. On 7 March 2012 the request was granted and a supplementary preliminary investigation was ordered.
28.  On 20 April 2012 the public prosecutor at the Athens Court of First Instance ordered the exhumation of Mr Tsalikidis’ body, the conduct of a new forensic autopsy and the execution of all laboratory tests to be carried out in a laboratory in the presence of the technical advisors appointed by the applicants.
29.  The exhumation took place on 3 May 2012 in the presence of coroners I.B., N.K. and Ch.S. and the applicants’ technical advisor Th.V., and biological material was sent to the Universities of Athens and Crete for the purpose of conducting toxicology tests. According to toxicology report no. 1313/7-12-2012, drawn up on 7 December 2012 by the Forensic Science Laboratory of the Toxicology Unit of the University of Crete, and forensic report no. 865/25-11-2013 on the exhumed body, drawn up on 25 November 2013 by the Forensic and Toxicology Laboratory of the School of Medicine of Athens University, the results were negative as regards the presence of poison or medication. However, in both reports it was stressed that the absence of a positive finding did not preclude the possibility of the administration of poison or medication to the deceased, since a number of factors, such as the lapse of time, could have affected the results.
30.  According to histology report no. 889/12/26-2-2013 drawn up on 26 February 2013 by the First Pathological Anatomy Laboratory of the School of Medicine of Athens University, the deceased’s hyoid bone was found to be broken. However, owing to the absence of surrounding soft tissue, it was not possible to say whether it had been broken ante-mortem or post-mortem.
31.  On the basis of the above-mentioned findings, the three coroners each prepared a new forensic report. Coroners I.B. and N.K., in their reports numbered 1408/2561/30-4-2012/10-7-2013 and 1287/18-6-2013 and drawn up on 10 July 2013 and on 18 June 2013 respectively, commented on the findings of the toxicology reports and histology report and concluded that the cause of Mr Tsalikidis’ death remained unclarified due to the passage of time. Coroner Ch.S. prepared a similar report dated 25 November 2013 commenting on the above‑mentioned findings without any reference to the cause of death.
32.  The applicants also requested that a psychiatric report be included in the case file, and one was duly prepared at their request. Dr A.D. studied the case file documents and conducted interviews with the first applicant and the deceased’s fiancée. His report dated 12 April 2012 stated that the deceased did not betray any of the personality characteristics associated with a suicide risk. In addition, no other factors such as health issues or financial problems were detected as being of concern, and in general, no plausible grounds for suicide were identified. In the doctor’s opinion, his support system of friends and family, his short-term (excursion) and long‑term (wedding) plans, together with the absence of any risk factors, were all indications that Mr Tsalikidis did not commit suicide.
33.  On 16 June 2014 the public prosecutor at the Athens Court of First Instance, with the approval of the public prosecutor at the Court of Appeal, closed the supplementary investigation, concluding that the above‑mentioned reports, considered in conjunction with the evidence gathered during the main investigation, were sufficient to allow the case file to be archived, thereby upholding the conclusions of order 80/06 issued by the public prosecutor at the Athens Court of First Instance (order no. 14/3859/16-6-2014).