Wiretapping report’s hanging questions
Did the prosecution’s investigation shed light on the murky case, and to what extent?
Did the months-long inquiry into the wiretapping affair by the Supreme Court’s Deputy Prosecutor, Achilles Zisis, leave any gaps?
In his inquiry, the Supreme Court deputy prosecutor acknowledges that the spy software was utilized in Greece and that Greece-based software development company Intellexa SA is associated with the illegal Predator program. The findings also include evidence proving Intellexa’s connection to the Greek software provider Krikel, a key supplier to the Greek government between 2018 and 2022. Based on the aforementioned, a total of four businessmen, who according to Zisis are associated with the companies in question, were called to respond as suspects: three with Intellexa and the fourth with Krikel.
“It is a given that Intellexa SA is active in the distribution of spy software,” the prosecution’s findings state, while Zisis notes that “there are sufficient indications in our judgment that similar activities were also developed in Greece by the same company and its affiliated companies, including Krikel.”
The prosecution investigation established the presence of illegal surveillance and assigned a significant role to four private businessmen. However, Zisis asked that they be prosecuted for three misdemeanours. He indicted them for “violation of the confidentiality of telephone communications” and “unlawful access to an information system,” but he believes the third allegation, violation of personal data, does not meet the threshold for prosecuting them as a crime. Legal experts noted the prosecutor has not considered the possibility that the defendants received a pecuniary benefit of more than 120,000 euros, which would elevate the charge to a felony.
At the same time, the surveillance of journalists, politicians and military leaders may fall under the provisions regarding threats to the free functioning of the democratic constitution and national security, resulting in an upgrade of charges. Furthermore, while Zisis accepted that four people were involved in attempts to bug cellphones he did not charge them with espionage. This is because the findings consider that only the phones of journalist Thanasis Koukakis and former Meta employee Artemis Seaford were infected by the illegal Predator software, describing all other cases as attempts.
The failure to summon critical witnesses is also a point of strong criticism in the prosecution investigation. All the more so when the role of some of them is described in the multi-page prosecution report.
