Wiretapping summonses sent out
Ahead of Thursday’s meeting of Parliament’s Institutions and Transparency Committee over the wiretapping cases, invitations have been sent to the former secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office, Grigoris Dimitriadis, the chairman of the Hellenic Authority for Communication Security and Privacy (ADAE), Christos Rammos, appeals prosecutors Vasiliki Vlachou and Konstantinos Tzavelas, the incumbent National Intelligence Agency (EYP) chief Themistoklis Demiris, as well as former chiefs of EYP, Panagiotis Kontoleon, Yannis Roubatis and Theodoros Dravillas.
The number of invitees foreshadows a marathon meeting which will probably not be completed in one day.
Meanwhile, the focus of Wednesday’s Conference of Presidents in Parliaments is expected to be the issue of confidentiality which caused controversy at the two previous meetings of the Institutions and Transparency Committee, and sparked a stern response from Parliament Speaker Konstantinos Tasoulas.
For its part ruling New Democracy insists that the Parliament’s regulations are clear regarding the operation of this committee and the secrecy of the procedure. It has also stressed that there cannot be a public debate on the way a secret service operates, as this de facto negates the nature of its operation and undermines its effectiveness. On the other hand, PASOK and SYRIZA will insist on Wednesday and Thursday at the committee meeting, that specific answers must be given on the case of the wiretapping and this cannot be done without an agreement to publish certain data that will shed light on the case and not leave any hints of a cover-up.
At the moment Parliament is examining a proposal on the table to ask MPs participating in the Committee on Institutions and Transparency to leave their mobile phones outside the chamber, so that there is no possibility of recording or transmitting information of the meeting while it is in progress.
