Greece leaves spy services unchecked on Predator hacks

ATHENS — Greece’s 2022 espionage scandal dubbed “Predatorgate” had everything: eavesdropping on politicians, journalists and judges, exports of shady software to dictatorial regimes and high-profile resignations.
Fast-forward two years and everyone in government is off the hook.
In a 300-page report seen by POLITICO, deputy prosecutor of the Supreme Court Achilles Zisis argued that a series of controversial hacks were coincidental to state surveillance operations, and state services or officials could not be held responsible for the spyware intrusions.
The report was filed to prosecutor Georgia Adeilini, who last Tuesday decided to assign misdemeanor charges to executives from the companies that produced and purchased the illegal Predator software, and otherwise shelve the case.
Opposition was quick to lash out at the findings, questioning the country’s judicial independence and calling it a “day of shame” for Greece. An attempt to request a fresh parliamentary inquiry was blocked by the government majority in parliament last Friday.
The scandal unfurled in August 2022 with an attempt to plant Predator on the phone of socialist leader Nikos Androulakis, a former member of the European Parliament, closely followed by revelations that the government led by the conservative New Democracy party had tapped Androulakis’ phone with lawful state surveillance tools.
Investigative journalists, civil rights organizations and the independent privacy watchdog ADAE soon uncovered how the National Intelligence Service (EYP) had subjected an ever-expanding list of journalists and politicians — including half the government Cabinet — to wiretapping and surveillance. Predator spyware was being planted on the phones of some of them at exactly the same time.
Zisis’ report confirmed reports that out of the 116 cases that were identified as spyware targets, 28 phone numbers were under lawful state surveillance at the time of the attempted hacks. But the Supreme Court assessed it a “coincidence and the two methods of surveillance have no connection with each other.”
The report acknowledged that the Greek-based software development company Intellexa is associated with Predator and includes evidence about its connection to the Greek software provider Krikel, a supplier to the Greek government between 2018 and 2022.
The findings concluded that four businesspeople — three with Intellexa and one with Krikel — should be prosecuted for “violation of the confidentiality of telephone communications” and “unlawful access to an information system.”
Some legal experts lashed out at the findings, criticizing how the deputy prosecutor left several leads untouched and didn’t consult victims sufficiently.
“The investigation was incomplete and superficial,” said Zacharias Kesses, an attorney defending journalist Thanasis Koukakis, one of the victims of spyware that was also under state surveillance.
Kesses argued Zisis failed to investigate how hacks of top ministers, political and military leaders were potentially serious felonies. “Privileged treatment and immunity were granted to the members of the spy service and those who were responsible for its supervision,” he said.
The report considers that only the phones of Koukakis and former Meta employee Artemis Seaford were infected by the illegal Predator software, describing all other cases as attempts. But victims’ lawyers say that there are others that were infected, including former minister Christos Spirtzis’.
Zisis also did not request the opening of the accounts of the companies affiliated with Intellexa.
The government has repeatedly dismissed allegations that the scandal goes up as high as Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis himself, saying that any wrongdoing was done by “dirty networks” within the intelligence services.
The scandal previously led to the resignation of Grigoris Dimitriadis, Mitsotakis’ chief of staff who’s also his nephew, and Panagiotis Kontoleon, who was the head of the EYP. Both were subpoenaed by the judicial authorities to testify late last month, but not as suspects.
Dimitriadis was called in June to testify only as a witness and an investigation in his residence was never conducted, even though it was initially requested by judicial authorities.
The socialist leader Androulakis, whose file reportedly had been destroyed by the state service despite legal requirements that all files should be kept for two years, has appealed the government’s handling of his case at the European Court of Human Rights.
Predator was also exported to Sudan and Madagascar by the Greek Foreign Ministry. The ministry later said it was conducting an internal investigation but it never announced the results or if there were any penalties.
The decision once again raises questions about the independence of Greece’s judiciary.
In March, the United States government announced a “first-of-its-kind” sanctions package against Intellexa and its leadership after the company was involved in targeting U.S. government officials. The announcement represents the first time the government has sanctioned a commercial spyware entity.
“Interceptions through the state service cannot be unchecked and unjustified,” said ADAE President Christos Rammos.
Zisis’ findings “disappointed all of us, ordinary citizens and legal experts alike, who want to believe in the integrity of the Greek justice system,” said Nikos Alivizatos professor emeritus of constitutional law at Athens University.