In Greece today everyone is talking about blackmail, Watergate and 15,000 surveillances by the EYP
The “New York Times” talks about “the Greek Watergate that is shaking the government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis” in its article about the wiretappingwhich was made public on Friday (12/08), writing, among other things, about a “scandal from the aftermath of the junta” and that only then was an order given to EYP to start, extend or stop at least 15,000 surveillances.
Osa mentions the NYT article
Specifically, in related publication of the “New York Times” reports that in a tense and highly confidential meeting in the hall of the Greek Parliament, the head of the EYP chosen by the prime minister politely avoided the questions of the opposition MPs. They wanted to know if he had followed a rival politician and a financial journalist investigating powerful business interests close to the prime minister.
The searches, however, mostly led nowhere. The chairman of the committee, a political ally of the prime minister, namely Kyriakos Mitsotakis, discouraged further questions, kept time to a minimum and ensured that the July 29 meeting, the content of which is still protected, went nowhere.
Less than a week later, accusations of government spying have grown into a sprawling scandal that is now rocking the Greek government, raising fears of widespread surveillance across Europe and potentially putting a rift on Europe’s other front against Russia for the war of Ukraine.
Greece today is beset by talk of blackmail, scandals a la “Watergate” and a secret police state that has a legal surveillance program with more than 15,000 orders last year alone to start, expand or stop wiretapping. “Predator”, a malicious spyware used to infiltrate mobile phones, has become part of the Greek vocabulary.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, a conservative who took personal control of the intelligence portfolio in 2019 and whose father was weakened by political espionage charges when he was prime minister some 30 years ago, is trying to manage the damage.
Thus, the head of the EYP, Panagiotis Kontoleon, was removed, and the prime minister accepted the citation of the general secretary of the government, Grigoris Dimitriadis, who was also his nephew, and proceeded to make a televised statement on Monday (08/08) that was full of denials . , but also proposals for the reform of the EIP, including the addition of a level of judicial review.
“I was not aware of it and obviously I would never allow it,” Mr. Mitsotakis said of the spying on his political opponent, although the country’s service is under his supervision.
{https://youtu.be/ivFkoZWAWz8}
“Scandal from the aftermath of the junta”
In fact, the publication of the “New York Times” goes a step further and speaks of a “scandal from the aftermath of the junta”, but pointing out that it is quite current for European data, since the Prime Minister of Spain, Pedro Sanchez, has become. a target of the powerful Pegasus spyware, as are reportedly French President Emmanuel Macron, the former Belgian prime minister and top EU officials.
There is growing concern that Europe, which prides itself on privacy and the rule of law, is raging with surveillance protections and espionage at a time when democracies are threatened by Russian aggression. So much so that the E.U. regularly checks the devices.
Spyware investigations should now “include checking the phones of all politicians and the highest ranks of officials”, Sophie in ‘t Veld, chair of the European Parliament’s special committee on spyware , and added: “To get a full picture of governments’ spying activity.”
{https://twitter.com/SophieintVeld/status/1557100084315267073}
Greece is now at the top of the European concern list. Allies of Mr. Mitsotakis, a staunch defender of Ukraine, have argued that the scandal poses a threat not only to Greek stability, but also to the common fight against Russia.
“If I were in Mr. Putin’s place, I would be very happy if the governments that were so opposed to Russia fell,” said Adonis Georgiadis, a government minister and vice-president of Mr. Mitsotakis’ party, the N.D. Although he stressed that he did not blame Russia for the hacking, he added that Russia had exerted influence on Greece in the past, stressing: “So if it did it in the past, why not do it now. ?”. Turkey, too, the Minister of Development & Investments said, “could be” behind all this.
Mr Mitsotakis, in his speech, also spoke about the possibility of “dark forces outside Greece” working “to destabilize the country”. However, the opposition argues that the government’s insinuations amount to a desperate smokescreen to avoid the obvious issue, namely that the government has been caught spying on its own citizens and political opponents.
“It was obvious that the government was lying,” said George Katrougalos, Greece’s ruling SYRIZA foreign minister, who attended the July 29 confidential meeting, the content of which he said he could not disclose.
Opposition party figures interpreted the intelligence chief’s non-denials about spying on journalists, and even a 12-year-old migrant child, as confirmations that they had done so. In fact, according to the relevant publication of the “New York Times”, they took advantage of the revelations about “legal” espionage until it called into question the categorical denials of the government that it was behind the “Predator” wiretapping.
Everything was revealed thanks to the iPhone of Nikos Androulakis
The extent of state surveillance may never have come to light if Nikos Androulakis, leader of Greece’s third-largest political party, the center-left PASOK-KINAL, had not upgraded his iPhone.
In June, an aide suggested he give his old phone to the European Parliament’s new spyware detection lab in Brussels. Technicians found that it was the target of a cyberattack on September 21, 2021, with the “Predator” malware, which is manufactured by Cytrox, a technology company operating out of Greece, and if installed via a phishing scam, can take over a mobile phone.
“He can monitor, he can record”, said Dimitris Manzos, PASOK – KINAL representative, who stated that the culprit “must be domestic”, because Greek fingerprints are everywhere.
The case of Thanasis Koukakis
The leader of PASOK – KINAL, however, was not the only target as Thanasis Koukakis, an investigative journalist who had uncovered various news stories in 2019 about Greece’s major banks, noticed problems with his new iPhone in June 2020. a source if possible under surveillance. His source said it was indeed possible, and he said he was shown tapes of his conversations, including one while he was waiting for his daughter in front of her school, with notes describing garbled phrases.
Subsequently, Thanasis Koukakis complained to the AIAEA and before he could get an answer, the government amended a law in March 2021, it is allowed to withhold information from people who are being investigated for national security issues and so the said Authority told him that it had no information about his phone.
Later, a Reporters United investigation, which included government intelligence documents and prosecutorial attachments, showed that the state surveillance ended the same day he filed his complaint.
It then emerged that Mr Koukaki’s phone was infected with ‘Predator’, which he only discovered in March this year after Citizen Lab, the world’s leading spyware experts, examined his device. The government denied having anything to do with it. It wasn’t until Wednesday (10/08) that he finally received a call from the country’s Supreme Court prosecutor to testify about his complaint.
“The revelation of the Androulakis case is a blessing for me,” said Mr. Koukakis, who is convinced that Mr. Mitsotakis knew all about the surveillance in today’s scandal.
Nikos Androulakis: “I never expected that the Greek government would put me under surveillance”
Mr. Androulakis also filed legal complaints and asked the Greek Observatory to look into the violation of his privacy. In his case, the competent Authority was able to confirm with Mr. Androulakis’ telephone service provider, at the beginning of August, that EYP had monitored his telephone.
Giorgos Gerapetritis, one of Mr. Mitsotakis’s closest associates, stated that he then tried to arrange a meeting between Mr. Androulakis and the head of the secret services, so that the latter would explain to the president of PASOK – KINAL and only him , as allowed by law, because he was under surveillance, but said he never received a response.
Instead, Mr Androulakis says he wants the matter to be handled by the judiciary and brought before Parliament’s Ethics Committee and the Greek privacy watchdog.
However, the case has caused political unrest in Greece, with parliamentary elections approaching. Mr Georgiadis acknowledged that Mr Mitsotakis knew about the surveillance which was “very bad”, but the Development & Investments Minister insists the Prime Minister “did not know”. He blamed it on a “political misstep” by the first head of the EYP, but also warned that the scandal could open the door to an opposition more favorable to Russia.
But Mr. Androulakis, like many Greeks, is convinced that the enemy is at home, having declared: “I never expected that the Greek government would put me under surveillance, using the darkest practices.”