An officer of the Republic Guard admitted in the self-declaration form that he used encrypted applications. To the question of whether you were a Sky ECC user, a Guard officer answered positively. But it is still not known the reasons he gave in the form for what purpose he used it. Sources at the Police Supervision Agency inform Klan News that the officer is in the process of verifying the way he used it and his purpose. At the end of the investigations, it is expected to be decided whether there will be a final exemption from the Guard.
The same sources indicate that the AMP’s suspicions are also due to incorrect filling of this form and the fact that the Guard officer did not clearly understand the question. However, in-depth verification will clarify the situation. The Garda employee is the first of around 13,000 Garda and Police Oversight Agency police officers to admit to using encrypted apps.
Sky ECC and Encrochat are not illegal platforms per se, but in the vast majority of cases they have been used by people with criminal records. Both applications have a certain cost for their use and not every person has the economic opportunity to use them.
The Sky Ecc and Encrochat applications were broken down by Belgian, Dutch and French authorities in cooperation with Europol, in March 2021. In some cases that SPAK is investigating, police officers were also involved. For this reason, the Minister of the Interior Taulant Balla approved an order for all police, guard and APM employees to declare whether they had these two applications and the purpose of their use. According to Balla’s order, any employee who used the encrypted apps will be fired immediately.
Also, Klan News reports that Gramos Sako, the Commander of the Republic Guard has been relieved of his duties. The reasons for his release are still unknown, and so far there is no official confirmation from the Ministry of the Interior.