Speaking on Politis radio and the programme Morning Briefing with Katerina Eliadi, Pambos Kaskanis stated that Police themselves created high expectations around the briefing, placing particular emphasis on the presentation and announcing in advance the participation of the Chief of Police and investigators involved in the case.
“The Police set the bar high, and rightly so, as this is a case that strongly engaged public opinion. As far as the Chief’s opening statements are concerned, I think things went well, as the basic outline of the case and the main conclusion of the investigation were presented,” he said.
However, according to Mr Kaskanis, weaknesses emerged during the question and answer session.
“We did not hear many new elements. Most had already been leaked in previous weeks. The central question of what the investigation concluded was answered, but a number of critical issues were not addressed,” he said.
Among these, he mentioned the motive of the woman at the centre of the case, whether she acted alone or had accomplices, how she selected the individuals she targeted through messages and where she obtained the information she used.
Mr Kaskanis placed particular emphasis on what he described as insufficient weight given to reports by the FBI and Europol.
“For months, we were hearing that the findings of these two organisations were expected and that the completion of the investigation was linked to their conclusions. I expected more concrete details or excerpts to strengthen the credibility of the findings. Instead, references were almost peripheral,” he said.
At the same time, responding to a related question, he suggested that the Police may not have fully grasped the level of distrust that still exists within society regarding the case.
“There is a broader climate of scepticism towards institutions. It does not concern only the Police. Within this environment, communication management becomes even more important,” he said.
He estimated that part of the public had already formed an opinion on the case and would be unlikely to change it regardless of how the findings were presented. However, he stressed that there was a significant segment of citizens who were expecting convincing answers and that the briefing should have primarily targeted this group.
“I am not sure that yesterday’s presentation convinced more people. It could have added more if there had been better preparation and more structured responses,” he concluded.
