The attempted surveillance of the leader of the Greek Socialist Party by the spyware Predator has inflamed the political debate in Greece, with the left-wing opposition accusing the conservative government of wanting “minimize” this “huge scandal“.
Nikos Androulakis, leader of the Kinal-Pasok (Socialist), the third party in the Greek parliament, filed a complaint in the Supreme Court last week for “attemptspying on his cell phone. “Discovering who is behind these harmful practices is not a personal matter but a democratic duty“, estimated the socialist MEP. The right-wing government, for its part, claims that the state did not buy this kind of software and believes that it is up to the courts to investigate. This is the third case of alleged surveillance in Greece in less than a year: in April Thanassis Koukakis, a Greek journalist specializing in financial affairs, took legal action, denouncing the attack on his phone by Predator. And in February, the secret service’s alleged wiretapping of another Greek investigative journalist on migration issues was brought before the Supreme Court.
Read alsoIn Athens, the disarray of young people disappointed with Syriza
SEE ALSO — Beijing slams MI5, FBI warning against Chinese commercial espionage
In all three cases, the government ruled out “any state involvement“. But unions of Greek and foreign journalists have said their “worryon the press freedom situation, which has deteriorated in Greece in recent years. Under pressure from journalists, government spokesman Yannis Economou said during a press briefing that “probably individualsallegedly used Predator, again excluding authorities from liability. Nikos Androulakis responded by urging the government to refrain from “any attempt (…) to downplay this matter“. “Nothing happens by chanceadded Kinal-Pasok MP Haris Kastanidis, calling on the government to identify these individuals.
“Orwellian reality»
“In addition to the judicial investigation, state institutions, the national intelligence services (EYP) and the Privacy Protection Authority must decide on these cases.“, he lambasted. “If the state has no relationwith these alleged surveillances, “how can a company market such powerful and expensive software?“asked the investigative site Inside story, which, with its colleagues from Reporters United and Solomon, revealed the details of these cases. Developed initially in North Macedonia, a country bordering Greece, by the Cytrox company, then in Israel, the Predator spyware hacks the targeted phone, and can access the messages and conversations of its user, according to experts.
“Predator is among the most expensive spyware inaccessible to individuals“, told AFP Anastasios Arampatzis, cybersecurity specialist. He understands “many levels of security that only a state could need“, Estimated this member of the Greek association Homo Digitalis for the protection of Internet users. Qualified as “huge scandalby the main opposition party Syriza, the case was discussed on Friday behind closed doors by the parliamentary committee for Institutions and Transparency. The head of the EYP, Panagiotis Kontoleon, suggested that the two journalists would have been monitored on the orders of foreign services, causing an outcry. “The government is again trying to cover up the multiple surveillances“, then tweeted George Katrougalos, MP for Syriza and former Minister of Foreign Affairs. He imputed “political responsibilityof this case to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, warning that Syriza does not “wouldn’t let this matter pass“.
The Greek government calls for vigilance
For its part, the government recalled that “all of Europe faces surveillance threats“. Kostas Karagounis, deputy of New Democracy, the right-wing ruling party, said politicians in Europe had also been victims of surveillance. “Does this mean that their respective governments are behind these surveillances?he asked. “Security and privacy must be ensured by any democratic regime“, assures the cyber expert Anastasios Arampatzis. “If a state surveils its citizens, we are headed for a dystopian, Orwellian reality“, he warns.