Greek phone executive's death in wiretap case ruled murder

A Greek prosecutor has brought murder charges against unknown perpetrators over a telecoms executives death - initially dismissed as suicide - on the eve of a major wiretap scandal in 2005.

The charges formally filed Thursday mean that Greek judicial authorities will now try to establish who was responsible for the March 2005 hanging death of Costas Tsalikidis.

In November, the Council of Europe's Court of Human Rights ruled that the previous investigation into Tsalikidis's death had been incomplete and ordered Greece to pay 50,000 euros ($59,000) in damages plus costs to his relatives.

A software hack was used to monitor calls of then-Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis as well as dozens of senior political and military officials.

No one has been named responsible for the wiretapping following subsequent investigations. [AP]