Every time Greece is rocked by a tragedy or a scandal, the rulers promise that "the court will solve the case". This is what Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis promised when it was revealed in 2022 that politicians, journalists and businessmen were being monitored – both legally by the Greek intelligence service EIP and with the help of the illegal Predator software.
An investigation by journalists from Inside Story shows that at least 27 people have been wiretapped almost simultaneously legally and illegally since 2020. Among them, the head of the PASOK opposition party, Nikos Androulakis, then Environment Minister and current Finance Minister Kostis Shatsidakis, and Army Chief of Staff Konstantinos Floros. In addition, a senior police investigator assigned to investigate the murder of journalist Giorgos Karaivaz as well as several other journalists were victims of the surveillance.
Today, in the middle of summer, when Athens is empty and the whole country is on vacation, the Greek judicial system has "cleared the case" - and cleared everyone involved of any wrongdoing. On July 30, 2024, the prosecutor of the Greek Supreme Court, Giorgia Adelini, announced that her investigation had found "no evidence" that politicians or government agencies were involved in the purchase or use of the Israeli Predator spyware. Thus, the prosecutor's office drew a legal line on the wiretapping scandal that became known as the "Greek Watergate."
The Greeks will never know the truth
The prosecutor considers it a pure coincidence that politicians, civil servants and journalists were simultaneously spied on both legally by the Secret Service EIP and illegally by the Predator software installed on smartphones. The Secret Service's practices, she says, are legal in every way. The Secret Service has the right to eavesdrop on any people "for reasons of national security" without ever being held accountable. It is enough if the prosecutor approves a request. In 2021 alone, over 22,000 such requests were approved.
The closure of the files means the Greek public will never know why the head of the social democratic PASOK or the chief of the General Staff were tapped by the secret services. Was it a “mistake” as Prime Minister Mitsotakis admitted in 2022? Or were these people really a threat to national security?
Open questions remain
The authorities' reluctance to investigate illegal eavesdropping attacks using Predator is striking. This is in stark contrast to another practice in Greece, where anyone who accidentally photographs a barracks is tried for espionage. After the closure of the files, many questions remain unanswered: Is the scandal only about a breach of communications privacy, as the Supreme Court's statement says? And who actually initiated the wiretapping - foreign forces or someone from the prime minister's office?
Through a controversial reform passed in July 2019, shortly after the conservative New Democracy (ND) came to power, the EIP became directly subordinate to the prime minister.
Europe - the last hope
Nikos Androulakis does not want to lose hope. The opposition politician wants a final clarification. So he turned again to the European Court of Human Rights. A few days after the Supreme Prosecutor's announcement, the PASOK leader spoke in parliament about the "pollution" of the Greek judicial system. Androulakis personally accused the prime minister of first infecting the intelligence services and now the judicial system and spoke of a double scandal - "with surveillance and cover-up".
All opposition parties - except those on the right side of the ruling ND - protested against the prosecutor's decision and demanded that the chief prosecutor Adelini answer the questions before the competent parliamentary committee. But the government with its parliamentary majority rejected the proposal.
Lack of confidence in the judicial system
No wonder Greeks' trust in the judicial system is visibly waning. According to a survey by the Etheron Institute, conducted on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the restoration of democracy in Greece, only 29.4% of the public trusts the country's judicial system. Now that the Supreme Court has covered up the wiretapping affair, no improvements are expected. On the contrary. The Hellenic Union for Human Rights, the country's sole monitor of the quality of judicial practice, noted that "the position of the prosecution raises serious questions about the impartiality and independence of the judiciary, especially on politically sensitive issues."
A delicate acquittal
The presidency of the journalists' association ESIEA also expressed deep concern. The prosecutor's office apparently did not use the results of a journalistic investigation in its investigation. After more than two years, a key question about press freedom in the country remains unanswered: How will it be ensured that journalists are no longer subject to illegal surveillance? How will it be ensured that journalists can do their work safely?
The case of Yorgos Karaivaz shows that there is still no satisfactory answer to these questions. The investigative journalist specializing in organized crime was murdered in the street on April 9, 2021. Two years later, his alleged killers were arrested. But on July 31, 2024, a jury in Athens found them not guilty by a majority and acquitted them. There is still no trace of the person who ordered Karaivaz's murder. The police officer in charge of the murder investigation was also a victim of EIP and Predator.
The Association of Journalists is deeply concerned because "the sense of impunity for the murders of journalists is growing" and is strongly demanding justice for Yorgos Karaivaz. | BGNES
Kaki Bali, analysis for DW
