Prosecutor Blasts Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou: “She knew very well what she was doing”

The prosecutor in the Athens Three-Member Misdemeanor Court was highly critical of former New Democracy MEP Anna-Michelle Asimakopoulou during the trial concerning the leak of data belonging to Greek expatriate voters shortly before the 2024 European Parliament elections.

“Stavrianoudakis and Asimakopoulou should be found guilty of both offenses they are charged with because they knew very well what they were doing,” prosecutor Emilia Sofia Meri stated. She recommended that both the former MEP and former Interior Ministry Secretary General Michalis Stavrianoudakis be convicted of breaching official confidentiality and violating personal data protection legislation.

Similarly, she proposed the conviction of Nikos Theodoropoulos, then Secretary for Greeks Abroad of New Democracy, and Menios Koromilas, then Secretary for Local Government and Crisis Management of New Democracy, for violating personal data protection laws. However, she recommended that they be acquitted of the charge of breaching official confidentiality.

According to the prosecutor, the defendants’ claims that they were unaware of the contents of the electronic file are not credible, since its contents were apparent from the file’s title alone.

However, regarding Theodoropoulos and Koromilas—whom she described as “mail carriers” or “messengers”—she explained that their role was limited to forwarding the file, which is not sufficient to establish the offense of breaching official confidentiality, as that crime also requires proof of harm to the victim.

“The title of the file makes it immediately recognizable to anyone who read it. The origin of the list is clear,” she said. Referring to these two defendants, she added: “Their use of the file was not intended to harm third parties. I believe they were not even aware of how it would ultimately be used, and in order to establish intent to cause harm, they would have had to know its intended use.”