Espionage on journalists, politicians and the military besieges the Government of Greece

The scandal of illegal wiretapping of journalists, politicians and the military that has been persecuting the Greek government for eight months recorded a significant episode in Parliament this Thursday.

The prime minister of Greece, the conservative Kyriakos Mitsotakis, left the House after Alexis Tsipras, former ruler and now leader of the leftist Syriza, the first opposition group, asked him if the country's secret services, known by its Greek acronym EYP, they had spied on the chief of the General Staff, General Konstantinos Floros.

The left-wing opponent warned the rest of the deputies: "His image of him leaving without giving an answer will follow him forever

The scene occurred during the debate on a bill on surveillance and espionage issues, with which the Mitsotakis intends to tackle the controversial case that began with two journalists as the first affected.

Mitsotakis, leader of the New Democracy party, faced the first attacks of the case in August with the resignation of two of his most trusted collaborators.

But that was not enough.

Articles about new illegal wiretapping appear in the local press every week.

First, the names of spied journalists were released, then those of various businessmen and politicians appeared.

And last week the leftist newspaper

published the identity of 14 senior military commanders, allegedly spied on.

The prime minister, who has governed with an absolute majority since July 2019, has acknowledged on several occasions that people have been spied on in Greece through the Predator listening program, of Israeli origin.

But he has always denied knowing about the espionage of any politician or military.

And much less about some of his own ministers, as some left-wing Greek media have revealed.

The journalist Thanasis Koukakis was the first person in Greece who was known to be spied on through the Predator program.

He was alerted in April by the Citizen Lab of the University of Toronto, the same one that has investigated the infections in thousands of phones of the Pegasus program, also of Israeli origin.

The reporter believes that the prime minister "will not resign."

Koukakis explains from Athens, in an email exchange, that Mitsotakis has managed to have the support of his party's deputies.

“But”, he predicts, “Greece will go to the elections [scheduled for the summer of 2023] with this matter dominating the pre-election period, because the Greek justice system did not begin to actively participate in the investigations of the case until the last few weeks, despite that the scandal was uncovered in April 2022.

One of the first steps Mitsotakis took as prime minister was to link the secret services — which came under the Ministry of Public Order — with his office, headed by his nephew, Grigoris Dimitriadis.

The other measure was to appoint Panagiotis Kontoleon, the director of a private security company, as head of intelligence.

The illegal wiretapping scandal had been brewing since last spring, with the case of the two journalists.

But it broke out on July 26 when the leader of the Greek socialist party (Pasok), Nikos Androulakis, revealed that he had received an SMS on his phone with a link that, if he had clicked on it, would have made him fall into the networks of the Predator spy program. , managed by the company Intellexa, based in Greece and directed by a former general of the Israeli Army.

A few days after the socialist leader's complaint, on August 4, the head of the secret services admitted that his office had spied on the journalist Thanasis Koukakis, responsible for CNN Greece's economic information in Greece.

The next day, August 5, Kontoleon and Dimitriadis, the prime minister's nephew, resigned.

Mitsotakis admitted that illegal wiretapping had been carried out in the country through the Predator program, but denied any involvement of his Executive.

After several months in which the scandal continued to generate headlines, the government decided last November to prohibit the sale of spyware in the country.

Stavros Malichudis,

a journalist who worked on immigration issues and the second to be spied on, according to the local press, affirms from Greece: "The most disappointing thing is that, despite the many revelations that have been published, the authorities and justice have not been at the height of its role with respect to the citizens”.

Malichoudis explains that an investigation commission was opened in Parliament, but he assures that the Government, thanks to its absolute majority, did not allow the bottom of the matter to be reached.

“They chose the witnesses they invited.

And neither Koukakis, the other spied journalist, nor I were invited.

They also did not accept the appearance of the main people behind this scandal, such as the nephew of the prime minister and the former head of the secret services, ”he adds.

A tarnished international image

The case of wiretapping, which opponent Tsipras describes as

, has deteriorated the image of the Government abroad.

published an investigative report on Thursday in which it reveals that the Greek government has acknowledged, in response to questions asked by the newspaper, that it granted licenses to the company that owns Predator to sell the program "to at least one country with a history of repression: Madagascar”.

For its part, the British newspaper

published an article on November 10 entitled: "Spyware affair tarnishes Greece's restored image."

The newspaper concluded, after extolling the good economic evolution of the country and recalling the praise of the European Union towards Athens for its help in controlling irregular immigration: "The longer the Government delays in giving an explanation [on the wiretaps], It seems like he has something to hide."

A European parliamentary committee, tasked with examining the use of eavesdropping programs such as Pegasus and the like, visited Athens in November.

One of its members, the Dutch MEP Sophie in't Veld, declared that the commission left Greece with more doubts than it had when it arrived.

Pavol Szalai, head of Reporters Without Borders in Greece, believes that the wiretapping case is the most serious of all those that have been registered this year in the European Union against the press.

“Illegal wiretapping of a journalist,” explains Szalai, “is very serious, because his sources are identified.

That is attacking the heart of journalism and, therefore, also of democracy”.

Szalai recalls that Greece ranked last in the European Union in the world ranking carried out in 2022 by this organization out of 180 countries from different continents and was ranked 108th.

Reporters Without Borders has ensured, through a statement, that the bill promoted by the Government only offers "largely cosmetic improvements" that "are well below European expectations and standards."

Szalai argues that a person who is spied on will only be informed three years after the end of their surveillance.

"And it is a commission whose independence and impartiality are questionable, which will decide whether or not to inform the interested party," the organization stressed in a statement.

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