2022 Greek wiretapping scandal

The Greek Wiretapping Scandal, sometimes called the Greek Watergate,[1] refers to the prolonged and en masse monitoring of the mobile phones of individuals prominent in the Greek political scene, including the president of the social democratic party, PASOK, Nikos Androulakis, the journalists Thanassis Koukakis and Stavros Michaloudis, as well as members of the government and close affiliates of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, among others.

For the 2004–05 affair, see Greek wiretapping case 2004–05.
This article is part of a series about
Kyriakos Mitsotakis
  • Political offices
  • Leader of the Opposition
  • Prime Minister of Greece
  • Elections

Precursors to the main events

On July 8 2019, just after the 2019 elections, the newly elected prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis placed the National Intelligence Service (NIS) under his direct control.[2] On August 9 2019, Panagiotis Politis, a professor and syndicalist in University of Thessaly, stated that he had found a GPS tracker in his car.[3] On November 2019, GPS trackers were found on cars and motorcycles belonging to members of the anarcho-communist collective Taksiki Antepithesi ("Social class counterattack") and a camera facing the collective's headquarters was found placed on a stationed car, which was later taken away with riot police escort.[4][5] These events however were not addressed by most of mainstream media at the time.

The main events

The mobile phones of all three individuals were hacked with illegal software called Predator, although it was only successfully installed on the journalists' phones. The revelations were followed by the resignations of the head of the NIS, Panagiotis Kontoleon, and the General Secretary of the Prime Minister and his nephew, Grigoris Dimitriadis. Ιn 2021 15,000 surveillance orders were issued.[6]

Financial journalist Thanasis Koukakis who had previously investigated the Greek banking sector, heard from a government source that he was being surveilled by the Greek secret service. It was later discovered the violation of the privacy of his communications through the Predator software that had infected his mobile phone,[7] on March 28, 2022, after an audit carried out on his behalf by the "Citizen Lab" of the University of Toronto. On July 26, 2022, the president of PASOK, Nikos Androulakis, filed a complaint to the Supreme Court for personal data breach, as the presence of a link related to the illegal Predator software was detected on his mobile phone.

On July 29, the Special Permanent Committee on Institutions and Transparency of the Parliament was convened where the Head of the NIS, Panagiotis Kontoleon and the president of Communications Privacy Authority, Christos Rammos, attended. Leaks from the meeting were circulated in the media according to which Kontoleon admitted that NIS was monitoring Koukakis[8] and that this happened at the request of foreign services.

On August 4, 2022, the EFSYN published an investigation linking the then General Secretary of the Prime Minister, Grigoris Dimitriadis, to the company that supplies the predator software in Greece.[9] On August 5, 2022, Dimitriadis resigned from the position of General Secretary to the Prime Minister. Less than an hour later, the leader of the NIS also resigned.

On Monday, August 8, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis made a brief statement on the issue of wiretappings, issuing that he did not know about the wiretapping of Androulakis and that if he had known, he would not have allowed it to happen.[10][11] The opposition claims that it is impossible that he did not know as NIS is under his supervision.[2]

On August 29, the PASOK's proposal for the establishment of a commission of inquiry was upvoted.

On November 5, it was revealed that documents regarding the wiretapping had been leaked, and an extensive list of people being targeted was published.

On December 8, Mitsotakis ardently refuted in parliament the allegations that he could have ordered a surveillance of the Minister of Labour Kostis Hatzidakis, or of the Chief of the Hellenic Armed Forces, Konstantinos Floros. When asked if it is possible that departments under his personal control could have ordered it, with him claiming ignorance, he left parliament without answering.[12][13]

On the same day, the Greek Foreign Ministry provided documents about its role in exporting Predator to foreign countries, despite earlier claims that the government had no relations with the company selling the spyware.[14]

On December 16, it was revealed that ADAE, a Greek independent authority safeguarding the privacy of telecommunications, had confirmed the surveillance of MEP Giorgos Kyrtsos and investigative journalist Tasos Telloglou after carrying out an audit.[15]

On January 24, 2023, responding to a question by Alexis Tsipras regarding six specific individuals, including Kostis Hatzidakis and Konstantinos Floros, ADAE officially confirmed that all of them had been under surveillance by the National Intelligence Service, a department under Mitsotakis' direct control.[16]

International attention

The international press has dealt extensively with the issue. Guardian compares the government to the Junta of the Colonels[17] and the NYT referring to the rot at the heart of Greece.[18] The government representative, John Oikonomou, verbally attacked the journalist of Politico, Nektaria Stamoulis for her handling of the issue, which caused the agency's reaction saying that "Nektaria was brutally abused by the Greek government".[19] The European Commission sent a letter to the Greek Government asking about the surveillance.[20]

The targeting of journalists during the course of the wiretapping scandal led Greece to fall from the 70th to the 108th place on the 2022 Reporters Without Borders press freedom ranking, the lowest position of any European country.[7]

PEGA Committee

On November 3rd the commission came to Greece to investigate the use of illegal software by the Greek government.[21]

Namelist

On November 5, Documento newspaper published a list of names that were under surveillance. Among others, according to the claims of the newspaper, under survelliance was the former Prime Minister, Antonis Samaras, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nikos Dendias, the former Ministers of Citizen Protection, Olga Gerovasili and Michalis Chrisochoidis, the Regional Governor of Attica, Giorgos Patoulis, the editors Alexis Papahelas, Antonis Dellatolas and Yiannis Kourtakis, the former president of National Public Health Organization, Panagiotis Arkoumaneas, former Minister of Karamanlis' Cabinet and former Mayor of Athens, Dimitris Avramopoulos, former Minister of Samaras' Cabinet, Olga Kefalogianni, the Minister of Labour, Kostis Hatzidakis, the deputy and former Government Spokesperson, Aristotelia Peloni, former Minister of Health and current Minister of Tourism, Vasilis Kikilias, Minister for Development and Investment and Vice President of the current governing party, Adonis Georgiadis and the President of Aris FC, Theodoros Karypidis.[22] It has been stated that the monitoring of Theodoros Karypidis was intended to side-monitor president of Olympiacos and Nottingham Forest F.C., Evangelos Marinakis.[23]

References
  1. "Greek 'Watergate' phone-tapping scandal puts added pressure on PM". Guardian. 28 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  2. Presidential Degree 81/2019 - OGG 119/Α/9-7-2019
  3. "Πολίτες παρακολουθούνται, η δημοκρατία απειλείται". Η Εφημερίδα των Συντακτών (in Greek). Retrieved 2022-09-08.
  4. "Ασφαλίτες βάζουν κοριούς γεωεντοπισμού σε οχήματα διαδηλωτών". Η Εφημερίδα των Συντακτών (in Greek). Retrieved 2022-09-08.
  5. "H Ασφάλεια φυτεύει κάμερες και τα ΜΑΤ τις φυγαδεύουν". Η Εφημερίδα των Συντακτών (in Greek). Retrieved 2022-09-08.
  6. Αρετάκη, Μυρτώ. "New York Times για παρακολουθήσεις της ΕΥΠ: Μόνο πέρυσι 15.000 εντολές για συνακροάσεις, τι ρόλο παίζει η Ρωσία στις αποκαλύψεις". www.dikaiologitika.gr.
  7. Markham, Lauren; Emmanouilidou, Lydia (26 November 2022). "How Free Is the Press in the Birthplace of Democracy?". The New York Times. Retrieved 26 November 2022.
  8. "Βόμβα από Κοντολέοντα: Παραδέχθηκε την παρακολούθηση Κουκάκη". efsyn.gr.
  9. "Μεσοτοιχία το Μαξίμου με το Predator". efsyn.gr.
  10. "Δήλωση Μητσοτάκη τη Δευτέρα για την υπόθεση των παρακολουθήσεων". kathimerini.gr.
  11. "Μητσοτάκης: Πολιτικά μη αποδεκτή η παρακολούθηση Ανδρουλάκη – Ήταν λάθος, δεν το γνώριζα, δεν θα το επέτρεπα ποτέ!". newsit.gr. 8 August 2022.
  12. "Κυριάκος Μητσοτάκης / Όταν έλεγε ότι δεν παρακολουθούσε Χατζηδάκη και Φλώρο (βίντεο)". Αυγή (in Greek). 2023-01-25. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  13. "Κυριάκος Μητσοτάκης / Η μεγάλη φυγή από την Βουλή που θα τον ακολουθεί για πάντα". Αυγή (in Greek). 2022-12-08. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  14. Mazzetti, Mark; Bergman, Ronen; Stevis-Gridneff, Matina (2022-12-08). "How the Global Spyware Industry Spiraled Out of Control". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-12-26.
  15. Michalopoulos, Sarantis (2022-12-16). "EXCLUSIVE: Another MEP and journalist the latest victims of 'Greek Watergate'". www.euractiv.com. Retrieved 2022-12-27.
  16. "Αλέξης Τσίπρας / Αυτά είναι τα 6 πρόσωπα που παρακολουθούσε η ΕΥΠ του Μητσοτάκη". Αυγή (in Greek). 2023-01-25. Retrieved 2023-02-02.
  17. "Greek PM under pressure over tapping of opponent's phone". TheGuardian.com. 7 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  18. Clapp, Alexander (22 August 2022). "The Rot at the Heart of Greece Is Now Clear for Everyone to See". The New York Times. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  19. "Επανέρχεται το Politico: "Η Ν. Σταμούλη δέχτηκε βάναυση κακοποίηση από την ελληνική κυβέρνηση"". Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  20. "EU and Greece veer toward standoff over wiretapping scandal". 29 August 2022. Retrieved 30 August 2022.
  21. "Η PEGA «έδειξε» τον ανιψιό του πρωθυπουργού και ζήτησε τις κρίσιμες για το σκάνδαλο πληροφορίες". Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  22. "ΠολιτικήΥποκλοπές: Στη δημοσιότητα λίστα με ονόματα που παρακολουθούσε το Predator". 5 November 2022. Retrieved 5 November 2022.
  23. "Παρακολουθούσαν ακόμη και τον Μαρινάκη μέσω Καρυπίδη". Η Εφημερίδα των Συντακτών (in Greek). Retrieved 2022-12-06.
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