The members of the PEGA committee of inquiry heard, Thursday 8 September in the morning, the victims of the Predator spyware at the origin of a major political scandal in Greece and putting in difficulty the Prime Minister, Kyriákos Mitsotákis, suspected of having listened to political opponents, even journalists.
Two Greek journalists directly targeted by Predator came to explain to MEPs how they had learned of their being wiretapped and the arrangements, including legislative arrangements, made by the Greek government to legalise certain practices.
Hoping that the PEGA committee, which brought this scandal to light at the European level, could “help improve the situation of the Rule of law in Greece”, journalist Thanasis Koukakis explained that he was targeted by Predator in 2020 while he had written about fraud systems or amendments to the Greek penal code. Having suspicions about a possible wiretap, the journalist had confirmation in August 2020 of the existence of transcripts of his calls.
After filing complaints, the government had “stopped surveillance”, but afterwards prepared a legislative amendment to legalise the act of wiretapping a person “for reasons of general security”, he said. The journalist has since appealed to the European Court of Human Rights.
Journalist Stavros Malichudis was also wiretapped, including while negotiating the creation of an international network of journalists covering refugee issues. In particular, the journalist was listened to when he was planning an article about a Syrian refugee child.
While the members of the PEGA committee condemned these practices and recalled the need to investigate all spyware companies, representatives of the Greek government, for their part, came to defend the government’s action in the implementation of European legislation on the protection and confidentiality of private communications, but refused to engage further in the discussion.
The representative of the independent Hellenic Authority for Communications Security and Privacy, for his part, referred to the legal limits related to public prosecutions.
“Hardly any answers, because it is not within our power”, “No comments on the affairs of justice, national security, so top secret”, quipped the Dutch MEP Sophie in ’t Veld on Twitter, having the impression of being in front of a “Computer-says-no sketch”.
Debate on Monday in plenary
MEPs will debate Predator and surveillance systems in Greece on Monday in plenary session with the Commission and the Council of the EU, the Conference of Group Presidents of the European Parliament decided on 8 September. (Original version in French by Solenn Paulic)