Valyrakis family seeks mobile phone tracking of suspects in ex-minister’s death

The family of former socialist minister and anti-junta activist Sifis Valyrakis who was found dead at sea on Sunday night has filed a lawsuit with the prosecutor of Halkida, Evia.

While the suit has been filed against persons unknown, through it the Valyrakis family is requesting the lifting of communications privacy so that competent authorities can obtain access to the cell phone records of several local fishermen. The family suspects these fishermen, who often trawl the area near where the body was found, of foul play.

According to sources, the family has gathered evidence, including CCTV footage, of movements in the harbor by the fishermen on the day of the incident, despite their testimonies refuting this.

The evidence was given on Sunday to the investigating authorities, but the family now hopes to collect tracking data from the fishermen’s phones to create a detailed picture of their movements on the day of the incident.

Already on Monday the authorities, who have collected over 50 testimonies on the case and examined the fishing vessels’ GPS signals, charged two of the fishermen with perjury as both men denied having gone fishing on the day.

According to the family’s lawyer, a witness claimed to have seen Valyrakis engaged in a heated argument with one of the fishermen. The two allegedly exchanged strong words before the fisherman departed after stirring up the water around Valyrakis’ smaller dinghy.

The coroner has yet to determine if the former minister’s injuries were caused by the propeller of his own dinghy or that of a different boat.