European court rules against Greece over wiretap death

A European court has ordered Greece to pay damages to relatives of a Vodafone telecoms executive who was found dead on the eve of the government's discovery of a major illegal wiretapping operation that had targeted the country's political and military leadership.

In a statement Thursday, the Council of Europe's Court of Human Rights ordered Greece to pay 50,000 euros ($59,000) in damages plus court costs, after finding that the investigation into the death of executive Costas Tsalikidis had been incomplete.

Tsalikidis was found hanged in his Athens apartment in March 2005, just before the scandal broke.

A software hack was used to monitor calls of then Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis as well as dozens of senior officials.

No one has been named responsible for the wiretaps following subsequent investigations.