Rick Downes - Greece

November 05

Rick Downes is a Swedish national who was arrested in October 2005 by the Tourist Police in Crete. He is a semi-retired computer programmer and computer programming teacher. He also works as a consultant, developer and teacher.

Rick has been disabled since contracting West Nile Virus two years ago. He moved to Crete with his wife in January 2005, seeking a better climate for his health.

In October 2005, the tourist police came to his house and questioned him about some emails advertising pharmaceuticals. They suspected Rick of having sent them. The policemen would not identify themselves, refused to advise him of his rights or show any search warrant. They did show him three email printouts which did not even include enough information to trace them. Two of the emails appeared to come from one of the world's leading marketing information companies, based in the US. The email was clearly not actually sent by them and in any event, Rick has no connection to this company. The other email was from Rick to a Greek lady. There is no mention of any pharmaceuticals.

The police arrested Rick and took his computer. He did not have to go to prison on account of his poor health.

The next day he read in the local paper "Swede arrested for drug trafficking" (Rick is the only Swede in the area) and that the tourist police had arrested a key figure in an international drug trafficking ring.

It has become apparent that the person who complained to the police did so after meeting Rick, as she and two of her friends then began to receive 'spam' emails offering pharmaceutical drugs. The emails do not even appear to come from or lead to Rick, his websites or his email address. They bear no relation to Rick's enterprises.

This case has to be seen in connection with Greeks’ strict law enforcement concerning technology. In 2002, the Greek authorities passed a law banning all electronic games, in an attempt to stamp out illegal gambling. The law resulted in internet cafes being closed down and people playing games on their mobile phones been sent to jail for a year.

Fair Trial Issues

1. When Rick was interviewed, no lawyer was present. He was told that he did not need a lawyer and that the police had not come to arrest him.
2. Rick was forced, under threats of being imprisoned, to sign a document which he did not understand as it was not in his language.
3. More than a month after taking his computer, the authorities have still not requested any information regarding the administrator password, which they would need to access all the information on the computer.