The director of the National Intelligence Agency (EYP) Yannis Roumpatis has requested an emergency meeting with the Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, following an internal affairs investigation which highlights the extent of corruption within the police force. Reportedly, the instances of corruption within the Hellenic Police “surpass the practices in organized crime” and may even include a “conspiracy against the government”.
A recording of telephone conversation in March 2015 between a high-ranking Immigration Directorate officer – who is a central div under investigation by Internal Affairs – with the associate of another high-ranking officer highlights the extent of corruption. The conversation was recorded as part of investigation into the involvement of five police officers with human trafficking rings.
The immigration officer speaks of replacing a supervisor and sub-director, in order to appoint someone else and later argues that two people close to the Minister of Public Order Yannis Panousis must also be removed. Ultimately the changes were carried out as detailed in the private conversation between the two corrupt officers. A supervisor in the Immigration Directorate, who had previously worked for the counter-terrorism police unit, revealed that he was being pressured.
Chillingly, another recoding shows that the corrupt officers were in the position to influence the Minister of Public Order, whom they claim would “leave in four months”. Specifically, the corrupt officers speak in code (“the tall guy”) of another high-ranking officer with political influence who will ensure that their corrupt operations are protected.
