Suspended sentence for landlord who spied on tenant with camera

A Thessaloniki court has handed a landlord a three-year suspended sentence for secretly recording a female tenant using a hidden camera in her apartment.

The case came to light in November 2019, when the then 18-year-old student filed a complaint.

Although the apartment was intended for short-term rental, the landlord had agreed to rent it to her for a year.

While the tenant initially noticed a white device on the ceiling of the apartment, the defendant told her that it was part of a deactivated alarm system.

Two months into her tenancy, the student found that the specific device was pointed towards her bed and flashing intermittently, so she consulted with an uncle who deals with electrical appliances and subsequently reported the landlord to the police.

The woman told the court that she was certain that her landlord was recording her and she fears that the material may have been shared online. She said that the landlord would often make unannounced visits and question her about her private life.

The defendant did not appear in court. His lawyer described the woman’s allegations as “fiction.”