The results of a forensic examination at Europol's specialised laboratory will largely determine the next steps in the police's own-motion investigation into the allegations made by Makarios Drousiotis. While the inquiry team at police headquarters awaits the findings from Europol's forensic analysts, investigators will continue pursuing other aspects of the case in parallel.
Three scenarios
A source familiar with the investigation explained to Politis the three possible outcomes of the forensic process. The first is that all the evidence is found to be either entirely authentic or entirely fabricated. Either way, the investigation will take the corresponding direction. If the material is authenticated, a criminal investigation will be opened and the appointment of an independent criminal investigator is considered a given. If Europol concludes that the evidence was fabricated, the inquiry will pivot in a different direction, aimed at identifying who constructed it, by what means, and crucially what purpose the construction of hundreds of messages was intended to serve.
A forensic expert based abroad who spoke to Politis cautioned that if the material derives from screenshots or photographs of screens rather than direct device extraction, establishing authenticity becomes significantly more difficult. "It is possible, beyond reasonable doubt, to establish the date on which a screenshot or photograph was taken," the expert said. "As for authenticity, technological conclusions can be drawn to a degree that would create reasonable suspicion, allowing police to apply to a court for search warrants." The situation would be considerably different, the expert noted, if investigators had access to the originating electronic devices such as mobile phones or computers.
The third possibility is that part of the material is authentic and part fabricated. In that scenario, the expert said, the handling by police would differ accordingly, with proceedings expected to move in two separate directions simultaneously.
All material submitted to police by both Drousiotis and lawyer Nikos Clerides, including photographs, video files and audio data, will undergo forensic examination as part of the authentication process.
Was the evidence examined before the cabinet briefing?
Since last Wednesday's cabinet decision, an intense debate has developed over whether the material submitted by Drousiotis on the preceding Tuesday, and the USB drive submitted by Clerides, passed through the police's own forensic laboratory before being forwarded to Europol. The discussion intensified following a statement by deputy government spokesman Yiannis Antoniou that two people in this case would be "irreparably exposed." A source told Politis that a preliminary sample examination of the material cannot be ruled out, carried out in order to provide the Justice Minister with a fuller picture for his briefing of the cabinet.