Belgian prosecutor demands access to Skype records in criminal case

Prosecutors in Mechelen are set to take Skype to court in a bid to compel the telecoms giant into co-operating in a criminal investigation, De Standaard reported on Tuesday.

This comes following the refusal by the company to allow prosecutors access to Skype calls during an investigation.

In a case against two suspected Armenian criminals in 2012, the men were found to have used Skype to discuss business matters, including the alleged delivery of stolen goods.

The judge asked Skype for access to its records, but the company refused, arguing that it was not a telecoms operator in Belgium and did not come under the Belgian law.

It further argued that on a technical level, providing access to phone conversations was impossible.

Theo Byl, a spokesperson for the Mechelen prosector, confirmed that Skype could be in violation of Belgian telecommunications law.

"The Board of Appeal has referred the case to the criminal court," he told De Standaard.

The current case is similar to a case against the Yahoo in 2013, in which it was concluded that foreign telecom providers operating in Belgium are obliged to work within the national judicial structures. Enditem