Acrimony as wiretapping case shelved
The decision on Tuesday by the Prosecutor’s Office of the Supreme Court to shelve the complaints about the wiretapping case related to the National Intelligence Service (EYP), or any other state agency for that matter, caused a storm of reactions and acrimony between the government and opposition parties, who denounced it as a cover-up.
According to the official announcement by the prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Georgia Adeilini, there was no connection between Predator or other similar spyware (discovered on the phones of numerous prominent Greek politicians, journalists and businesspeople) and state services – such as EYP, the Special Anti-Terrorist Unit and the Hellenic Police (ELAS) in general.
The 300-page report was submitted by the deputy prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Achilles Zisis – with contributions from three independent authorities.
While government sources said that “justice spoke,” PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis, whose phone had been tapped, said, “We will continue our fight against this dark state.”
SYRIZA bemoaned that, “as of today, the wiretapping scandal has the stamp of the leadership of the Supreme Court,” while party leader Stefanos Kasselakis lamented in a social media post that the decision had shaken his confidence in the Greek justice system. The leader of the New Left party, Alexis Charitsis, also condemned a “day of shame.”
Evidence of guilt emerged for four individuals who in one way or another had a relationship (legal representation or otherwise) with two companies associated with the Predator malware. All four are now criminally prosecuted for breach of telephone privacy, but to the extent of a misdemeanor. The phone-tapping case began in 2022, following claims by Androulakis and journalist Thanasis Koukakis that they had been subjected to state surveillance through Predator spyware. It was later revealed that many high-profile individuals had Predator spyware installed on their devices while also being under official surveillance by EYP.
