Journalist and Volt parliamentary candidate Makarios Drousiotis has sharply criticised the police over their handling of corruption allegations, accusing investigators of attempting to discredit evidence before even examining it.
In his social media posts on Wednesday, Drousiotis alleged that the police response had been prejudicial from the outset.
“Before I even came forward to provide the information I have in my possession, before they saw it, before they evaluated it, they were looking for ways to prove that it was fake,” he said.
He further claimed that such conclusions were being circulated publicly, adding that investigators were “leaking it to the press”.
Central to his criticism was a conversation with Erotokritos Erotokritou, leading the investigative team appointed by police chief Themistos Arnaoutis.
According to Drousiotis, Erotokritou raised concerns about the reliability of digital material, informing him that “there are applications that can create messages” and describing how “a message can appear as if I sent it with an older date stamp”.
Drousiotis argued this demonstrated a predetermined approach.
“Before they even see them, they are searching for applications on the internet in order to prove that the messages are supposedly fake,” he said, describing the actions as “bordering on ridiculousness”.
He added that the investigators assigned and those he communicated with at police headquarters on Tuesday had acknowledged “limited expertise in electronic communications while simultaneously attempting to assess digital evidence”.
The dossier, submitted to police headquarters, includes a 34-page statement and 137 items of electronic evidence.
Drousiotis claims the material points to “serious cases of corruption and financial crime” and raises suspicions of offences including rape, murder and paedophilia.
He has also alleged the involvement of political figures, judges and other officials.
Drousiotis has called for the investigation to be removed from police oversight.
“The police cannot be part of this investigation,” he stressed, urging the appointment of “independent criminal investigators, above all suspicion”.
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