Manolis Sfakianakis (; born 9 February 1963) is a Greek retired police officer of the Hellenic Police who served as the Head of the Cyber Crime Division (Greek: ) of the Hellenic Police from 2004 to 2016, attaining the rank of Police Lieutenant General (Retired) in 2017.
Early life Manolis Sfakianakis (or Emmanouil, Manos, Greek: ) was born, in Chania, Crete, and was raised in the village of Spilia (Greek: ). He has a sister and a brother. He attended Technical Lyceum of Chania (now the Vocational Lyceum of Chania) with a chosen subject area in electronics, and then enrolled at the private secondary vocational school Korelko (renamed Private IEK Korelko, now-defunct), in Athens in the 2-year program in computer programming. In 1982 he entered into the Enomοtarchon School of the Hellenic Gendarmerie (Greek: , now-defunct)The Hellenic Police force was reformed in 1984 under the Law 1481/1-10-1984 Government Gazette 152/A/8-10-1984 as the result of the merger of the Gendarmerie (, 1833–1984) and the Cities Police (, 1921–1984) in Rhodes, which was a Non-Commissioned Officers' Academy. After a 10-month program he graduated as Sergeant Major (Greek: ). Subsequently, from 1986 to 1990, he attended the Officers' School of the Hellenic Police AcademyThe Officers' School of the Hellenic Police Academy was originally non-tertiary education which then had to be participated in the required written entrance examinations. It was acquired Institution of Higher Education (HEI) status in 1995 with the Article 1 and Paragraph 3 of the Presidential Decree 319/1995 Government Gazette 174/A/24-8-1995 according to Greece 4-year degree-granting–level program whereby entrance is required specific test scores from Government-run written national level examinations (Panhellenic). in Athens.
Career Assignments to the positions include, the Police Department of the village of Salakos in Rhodes island; Police Department of Ialysos in Rhodes; Police Department of Agios Nikolaos, Chalkidiki; Police Security Department of Syntagma in Athens in 1992 where at first he served as the Deputy Director and then from the following year as Director, succeeding the previous Director who dismissed from it; Financial Crime Unit of the Security Directorate of Attica in 1995; Subsequently, he was assigned Head of the Cyber Crime Unit (CCU) in the time of Unit's founding in 2004 hosted in the General Police Directorate of Attica (GADA) and, from then on, he remained to hold that assignment for almost twelve consecutive years.
While in charge of the Unit, he took part in the Unit's 2011 reform when it was upgraded into a Subdivision renamed Cyber Crime Subdivision and later in the 2014 upgraded into a Division changed its name to the Cyber Crime Division in order to full its operational standards in dealing with the aftermath of the technological advancements and greater internet accessibility which has seen a growth in crimes committed over the internet.
Although, since the founding in 2004, it still continues to be colloquially known to as Cyber Crime Unit or Cyber Crime Center. By the time he has promoted to the rank of Brigadier General in a press release of 2 March 2013, he assigned Deputy Head of the Authority of Financial Police and Cyber Crime Subdivision () where he held concurrently with that of Head of the Cyber Crime Subdivision.
In a press release issued by the Hellenic Police HQ on 18 February 2016 he was assigned Assistant to the Chief of Staff of the Hellenic Police Headquarters where he was responsible to the Chief of Staff Lieutenant General Zacharoula Tsirigoti. In a press release on 21 January 2017 was issued by the Hellenic Police HQ announced that he promoted to the rank of Police Lieutenant General (Retired).
Throughout the years that he has been at the Cyber Crime Unit, the Unit has intervened in a number of suicide attempts. Additionally, on 24 October 2011 the Cyber Crime Unit launched a mobile application, accompanied with its respective website, called CyberKid funded through private sponsorship by the Wind Hellas providing useful information to children and internet users. The CyberKid application for portable devices (smartphone, tablet) is available without charge to download from the Google Play, App Store and Microsoft Store that users can directly contact the Cyber Crime Division in the event of a cyber case incident. The CyberKid mobile application is an initiative of Hellenic Police Headquarters with Ministry of Citizen Protection implemented by the Cyber Crime Division.
Politics He elected regional councilor of the Region Council of Attica, Municipality of Glyfada at Attica's South Sector Constituency, in the 2023 Greek local elections on 8 October 2023 with the political grouping Attiki Mprosta led by Nikos Hardalias supported by the New Democracy political party. Attica Regional Governor Nikos Hardalias expelled Emmanouil Sfakianakis, regional councilor and executive councilor for internet information and digital service, from his political grouping Attiki Mprosta after Emmanouil Sfakianakis blamed a murdered 28-year-old woman for her killing by her 39-year-old former partner outside Agioi Anargyroi Police Station on 1 April 2024.
Awards On 22 December 2015, the Special Award (Greek name: ) of the Class of Ethics and Political Sciences was bestowed on Manolis Sfakianakis in recognition of his contribution and social work to Cyber Crime Division, from the Academy of Athens at its annual awards event. The ceremony took place during the formal sitting in the Great Ceremony Hall of the Academy of Athens. On 20 November 2014, the UNICEF Greece 2014 Award was bestowed both on Cyber Crime Division of the Hellenic Police and in its head Manolis Sfakianakis in recognition of their contribution to promote and protect the rights of children in Greece, from the UNICEF's Greek National Committee Awards 2014 – 25th celebration to commemorate the Declaration of the Rights of the Child, World Children's Day. The ceremony took place in the Arcade of Book located in the Arsakeion Mansion in Athens. On 13 February 2006, an Honorary Distinction () was bestowed both on Cyber Crime Unit and in its head in recognition of their valuable social work, from the Ministry of National Education and Religious Affairs, with the Minister Marietta Giannakou presenting the award to Manolis Sfakianakis in a ceremony took place at the General Secretariat for YouthThe General Secretariat for Youth has integrated into the Ministry of Education's General Secretariat for Vocational Education, Training and Life-long Learning (Greek: ). in Athens.
Publications Books: Emmanouil Sfakianakis, The internet code (), Athens: All About Internet IKE Publications, 2016,
Co-written books together with others (collective work): Emmanouil Sfakianakis, George Floros, Konstantinos Siomos, Psychologist collaborators: Evangelos Makris, Genovefa Christou, Virginia Fyssoun, Addiction to the internet and other high-risk internet behaviour (), Athens: A. A. Livanis Publishing Organization, 2012, , Emmanouil Sfakianakis, Vera Athanasiou, Parents, child, internet (), Athens: Psichogios Publications, 2017, Emmanouil Sfakianakis, Vera Athanasiou, The Ben and tablet-trap (), Athens: Psichogios Publications, 2017, Emmanouil Sfakianakis, Vera Athanasiou, The Ben and magic screen (), Athens: Psichogios Publications, 2017, Emmanouil Sfakianakis, Vera Athanasiou, The Ben and cyberbullying (), Athens: Psichogios Publications, 2017, Emmanouil Sfakianakis, Ioannis Makripoulias, The keys of internet (), Athens: All About Internet IKE Publications, 2016,
Criticism and controversies
Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece 305/2019 irrevocable decision The 305/2019 irrevocable decision (Greek: αμετάκλητο βούλευμα) along with its officially documenting release published on its website on 5 November 2018 issued on 15 February 2019 of Z' Criminal Department of Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece (Greek: Άρειος Πάγος), Manolis Sfakianakis was sent to trial accused of having infringed the penal law concerning arbitrary abuse of power charged of a felony offense (Greek: ) during was Head of the Cyber Crime Unit of Hellenic Police.
The 305/2019 irrevocable decision on 5 November 2018 taken by judges Aggeliki Aliferopoulou (), vice-president of Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece Dimitrios Georgas () and Grigorios Koutsokostas (), with the presence of Deputy Public Prosecutor of Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece Panagiotis Pagou () and Secretary Aikaterinis Anagnostopoulou ().
The Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece dismissed the appeal of previous referral order of the Judicial Council of Appeal Court Judges (Greek: Συμβούλιο Εφετών) because the court record of the irrevocable decision along by the findings of the investigation showed that Manolis Sfakianakis was implicated in the case appearing to be known, suggested methods, and told journalist Sokratis Giolias 37-year-old about an investigation to be conducted by the Cyber Crime Unit in the coming days at his residence in order to evade criminal charges and remove away his computer devices and any evidence which will be objectively identify who is administrator of Troktiko online journal. Also according to the court record, Manolis Sfakianakis personally had informed Sokratis Giolias for a contract killing against him, based on phone call he had with him on 16 July 2010. The journalist of Proto Thema newspaper, director of Theme 98.9 FM radio station and Troktiko online journal, Sokratis Giolias, was assassinated on 19 July 2010 by gunmen were waiting in ambush shooting him while he was outside of his residence in Athens. On 27 July 2010 in a written statement sent to the Ta Nea newspaper, the terror group "Sect of Revolutionaries" assumed responsibility for the murder. The case remains unsolved with the murderers are still being unknown.
Due to typical bureaucratic reasons and no for substantive, Manolis Sfakianakis wasn't brought to trial for arbitrary abuse of power offense and obstruction of justice, because this criminal charge has removed from the new Criminal Code of Greece on 11 June 2019 with the laws 4619/2019 and 4620/2019 when the Supreme Civil and Criminal Court of Greece had decided before the effective date of the two laws on 1 July 2019, and before the General Election held on 7 July 2019.
Manolis Sfakianakis himself denies any wrongdoing and argued that he does not have any relation with the murder. For a wild hunt against him during the period 2015 to 2019, from persons who still today are preying the sector of public law enforcement, Manolis Sfakianakis addresses, speaking to the Real News newspaper with regard media reports connecting him with the murder of journalist Sokratis Giolias in July 2010. And because, as he states, he has been patient enough to date, he declared "I now intend, to exercise all my legal rights to the Greek courts and European Union courts, while it is unprecedented the continuity development of a criminal case against me with mash data and many exculpatory elements but also the unprecedented my degrading treatment to the public by websites, publications and from false and fabricated complains in which we officially know the details of the authors who apply this atmosphere around me." Manolis Sfakianakis claims that this whole existing because he was an obstacle to their plans.