PM calls for meeting of parliamentary committee after spyware revelations

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis called on Thursday for a meeting of the Parliament’s Special Permanent Committee on Institutions and Transparency after the leader of Greece’s socialist opposition PASOK party revealed an attempted bugging of his mobile phone with surveillance software.

Nikos Androulakis, leader of Greece’s third-largest political party and a member of the European Parliament, lodged a complaint on Tuesday with senior court prosecutors over the attempted phone hacking with the Predator spyware. He was informed of the bugging by a cyber security service provided by the European Parliament.

The PASOK-KINAL parliamentary group asked for an emergency meeting of the committee on Wednesday.

In a call with Parliament head Konstantinos Tasoulas, Mitsotakis said there was a need to “clarify the case fully and quickly,” adding that the committee should meet as soon as possible.

According to a report by Toronto University’s Citizen Lab, which tracks the spyware industry, a message in September last year invited Androulakis to click on a link that was a bait to allow the installation of Predator. Androulakis did not respond to the invitation and so averted the bugging.

PASOK party officials say it was serious attempt to violate the privacy of telecommunications.