Aron-aron hooding is attempted in Greece
He continues the investigations in the European Parliament, while the Commission intervenes with the European Act on the Freedom of the Media
With the testimony of Nikos Androulakis, the Investigative Committee of the Hellenic Parliament completed its work.
Many are talking about a cover-up since the government majority in the Inquiry rejected all the opposition’s requests to testify as witnesses of the main people involved in the case.
It is recalled that the incomplete list of witnesses excluded – apart from the Prime Minister – the Secretary General (and nephew of K. Mitsotakis) Grigoris Dimitriadis, the journalist and the victim of wiretapping Thanasis Koukakis, those responsible for Greece. the officers of the Service who had been involved and several others.
At the same time, the surveillance file of Nikos Androulakis was destroyed in the EYP, the ADAE was forbidden to inform the victims of the wiretapping about their case and the main suspects were hidden behind the illegal invocation of the secrecy of their actions.
It won’t be easy to close the issue at the level level
Concerns about the protection of democracy and European values in Greece and other EU countries.
Despite of course closing the work of the Commission of Inquiry in Greece, the discussion at the level will not end so easily.
This is evidenced by the hammering against the Mitsotakis government and personally against the Prime Minister during the debate on September 12 in the Plenary of the Parliament on the wiretapping scandal in Greece.
In the debate, as typically stated in the European Parliament’s announcement: “Almost all the speakers condemned the use of spy accounting in Greece and other EU countries, which is illegal under European law.”
However, he reports to the EP that “some MEPs emphasized that the Greek government has denied that it has illegal accounting”, while “others questioned the government’s statements and called on the European institutions to take action to protect European values in Greece”.
The debate also revolved around the concerns expressed by many MEPs about the protection of democracy and European values in Greece and the other EU countries, regardless of the legal or illegal nature of the surveillance of political figures, journalists and representatives of civil society. citizens.
The position of Commissioner Didier Reynders was also indicative, who stated that “the use of espionage accounting in Greece is contrary to the Commission’s decisions” and that the Commission is gathering data in relation to the case and will assess the matter in relation to individual law . when he will have all the details.
The initiative taken by the European Commission with the European Media Freedom Act (European Media Freedom Act), the new set of rules proposed to protect the pluralism and independence of the media in the European Union, is noted. The European Act foresees, among other things, the nominalization of the shares of the channels and the institutionalized security framework of journalists against practical surveillance by state agencies.
A major issue of legitimacy and democracy
Respect for democratic freedoms is intertwined with human dignity and a society’s cultural
Collectively, the opposition considers that a major intelligence issue arises both for the interceptions with the Predator and for the legal attachments of the EYP. It also underlines that respect for democratic freedoms is intertwined with human dignity, the culture of a society and democracy itself.
Indicative were the positions of various parties at the end of the work of the Commission of Inquiry.
SYRIZA: It is a day of shame for the Greek Parliament and the Republic, but the matter does not end here. As much as the government wants to close the wiretapping scandal, which is an open wound for the Republic, those responsible will be held accountable to the Justice, either before or after the elections.
KKE: This is a “committee-parody” and “hurried closure/hood” “under the responsibility of the governing majority”. Her works that resulted from the “icing on the cake” of the methodical cover-up of the cases, the disorientation with selective leaks here and there, which are intended to obscure the case, to leave the reactionary institutional framework and the unscrupulous action of the domestic and foreigners. services, of state and parastatal mechanisms.
Day 25: The investigation into the wiretapping by Mitsotaki SA closes. as expected, with no clarification, no investigation, no “light”. The parastatal of eavesdropping, theft and authoritarianism of the Mitsotakis regime is again choosing to cover up its crimes.
In Greece Bill Marcak of Citizen Lab
“Hard to imagine a scenario where a private company could use the Predator”
Bill Marczak, a member of Citizen Lab, the University of Toronto group that brought to light the logically malicious surveillance, will participate on Friday, October 7th in an ETERON event in Athens, on the topic of “Eavesdropping: Spyware and its Crisis . Rule of Law”.
In December 2021, Citizen Lab, which deals with digital threats against human rights, published its research on the then unknown spyware called Predator, noting that it has clients in Greece, among others.
As is now known, Predator was created by a small company based in North Macedonia, Cytrox, which was then bought by Israel’s Intellexa, a company also based in Greece.
After the publication of this investigation, an investigation was launched in Greece that brought to light the monitoring of journalists and politicians.
In Greece, the government denies having bought or used the Predator. However, Marcak has stated before the reports about this: “From a technical point of view we cannot say exactly whether it is the Greek government or the private company. However, I have not seen a case where a powerful accounting interception such as Cytrox’s Predator has not been sold to a private company for its own use.”
And he explained: “Intellexa may sell other products and services to private companies, but would be shocked if they sold Predator to private companies. Unlike governments, which generally have the legal authority to monitor, it’s hard to imagine a scenario where a private company could use the Predator. Also, this type of software typically costs several million dollars, which a private company probably couldn’t afford.”
Sources: news247.gr, efsyn.gr, avgi.gr