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According to the German Association of Judges, Encrochat proceedings bring the judiciary to the limit

2021-11-15T11:21:27.041Z


It's about huge amounts of data: The German Association of Judges is calling for more staff to cope with the wave of Encrochat proceedings. Soon the judiciary will also receive data from a second crypto cell phone provider.


Enlarge image

Raid in Berlin after decrypted Encrochat data (archive image)

Photo: Paul Zinken / dpa

As a result of the decryption of the Encrochat software used by criminals, according to the Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), more than 2,700 investigations against users of the decrypted crypto cell phone service Encrochat have been initiated; in more than 1,000 cases, the accused are in custody.

The German Association of Judges is therefore now warning of an overload of public prosecutors and courts.

“The Encrochat litigation pushes many public prosecutors and criminal courts to their limits.

As a rule, these are complex proceedings with several suspects in which huge amounts of data have to be evaluated.

It should take a few years for the criminal justice system to bring all cases to a conclusion, ”said Sven Rebehn, federal manager of the German Association of Judges.

Access to the Encrochat data offers the rare opportunity to take action on a large scale against organized drug crime and siphon off many millions of euros in criminal assets.

However, the judiciary must be set up powerful enough to cope with the growing wave of proceedings, emphasized Rebehn.

For years, criminals had written encrypted messages about drug and arms deals via the Encrochat platform until investigators managed to decrypt them.

French and Dutch investigators managed to infiltrate the server of Encrochat, a crypto-cell phone provider in northern France, which is popular on the criminal scene.

Investigators described the service, which has since been discontinued, as "WhatsApp for gangsters," and for a long time the authorities could not penetrate it.

From the beginning of April to the end of June 2020, the specialists in the neighboring country intercepted communications from 32,477 Encrochat customers in 121 countries and forwarded them to a government server.

Millions of monitored chat messages also landed via Europol at the Federal Criminal Police Office, which has been evaluating the data since then.

Further data expected

According to information from the German Association of Judges, the German criminal prosecutors also assume that they will shortly receive the secured database of a second crypto cell phone provider called Sky EEC, which is up to four times the size of the Encrochat Fund.

This means that a second, potentially even larger wave of proceedings is rolling towards the criminal justice system.

On the occasion of the Encrochat proceedings, Berlin wants to upgrade the regional court according to the German Association of Judges in the first quarter of 2022.

There will be five additional criminal chambers there to cope with the flood of proceedings.

The public prosecutor's office will be strengthened at the turn of the year by a special department with eight prosecutors, who will not be recruited, but will be withdrawn from other areas.

Hamburg has created 28 new temporary positions for judges, public prosecutors and service personnel to manage the Encrochat complex.

Three additional criminal chambers have been set up at the regional court and two additional departments at the public prosecutor's office.

Other countries have also increased their police and judiciary staff.

For example, Bremen will set up an additional department at the public prosecutor's office with twelve posts for a limited period until the end of 2025, the regional court will be expanded to include a criminal chamber and will have five new posts.

In Saxony, the Leipzig Regional Court has been expanded to include a new criminal chamber, and the Lübeck Regional Court has also set up another large criminal chamber in Schleswig-Holstein.

kha / AFP

Source: spiegel

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