After 21 years of hard, effective work, Manolis Sfakianakis, director of the Cyber Crime Division of the Hellenic Police has been transferred to another department. He didn’t lose his Major General Rank but essentially he was demoted to a meaningless desk job in the human resources department.
Sfakianakis is one of those rare cases of exceptional civil servants in Greece who excel within the confines of a corrupt state that is mired in mediocrity, indifference and incompetence.
Since 1995, Sfakianakis was the Batman of Greek cyberspace. In 1996 he dismantled a four-member gang that had ravaged Athens copying credit cards; in 1997 he solved a crime committed by a member of a dating site; he has saved dozens of teenagers from committing suicide by following their posts on the internet; he discovered many hackers, and, most of all, he helped dismantle several child pornography rings.
Unlike most public sector employees, Sfakianakis kept training for his job. He attended FBI seminars on cyber crime, investigated credit card fraud in England, he trained in police forces around the world. Soon, his unit became the jewel of Greek Police, recognized all over the world.
When not donning his cape, Sfakianakis writes books on child safety on the internet, on warning parents about cyber dangers, on how to protect children from child pornography.
In another episode in the series “SYRIZA is the Enemy of the Best,” the Greek government on Wednesday night decided that since Sfakianakis does not carry a SYRIZA voter card would be more productive in a dull desk job at human resources.
The decision created an uproar in police circles and in Greek Parliament. Several opposition MPS asked why kick that man out while his work was exceptional and productive.
Citizen Protection (God help us!) Deputy Minister Nikos Toskas defended the government decision by saying in parliament that Sfakianakis “was evaluated for his work, not for his public relations skills.”
So according to Toskas, all of Sfakianakis’ achievements were “public relations.” That’s good leftist thinking.
After the public outcry, Hellenic Police headquarters announced that the decision to transfer Sfakianakis was repealed. No reason was given. Probably the cyber crime fighter is indeed good in public relations. After all, he has thousands of thankful parents on his side.
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