Cover-up allegations haunt a short-lived Greek parliament inquiry into a state wiretapping scandal, which will close next week with no real answers.
But the case, which cast an unflattering light on Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ conservative government, remains a priority for the European Parliament.
The European Union Assembly will send a fact-finding mission in November to question key witnesses.
The scandal could also affect the formation of a future Greek government after general elections scheduled for 2023.
The affair erupted in July when Nikos Androulakis – a member of the European Parliament and leader of the Greek Socialist Party (Pasok/Kinal) – filed a legal complaint alleging there had been attempts to load his mobile phone with illegal spyware called Predator to listen to
Within days, it emerged that Androulakis had indeed been independently monitored by Greek intelligence before becoming leader of Pasok, Greece’s third largest party.
In August, the head of the Greek secret service and a close associate and nephew of the prime minister resigned over the case.
This put the government in a difficult position. For months, it had fended off wiretapping allegations by two Greek journalists, one of whom claimed to have been hacked by both Predator and state intelligence.
The Greek parliament responded by setting up a cross-party committee to investigate the scandal, which has parallels to Watergate.
– ‘Honesty and Transparency’ –
Mitsotakis has tried to limit the damage, insisting he had not been informed that Androulakis was being monitored, despite noting that it was technically legal in any case.
However, he acknowledged that this was “politically unacceptable”.
“It’s a serious problem. We’ve approached it with honesty and transparency,” he told Bloomberg TV last month.
“We want to make sure we continue to strengthen our intelligence agencies’ ability to do their jobs – but with the necessary oversight that allows people to feel comfortable with the way they work.”
However, critics noted that one of Mitsotakis’ first acts when he became prime minister in 2019 was to attach national intelligence to his personal office.
As for the parliamentary inquiry, opposition MPs said the government-controlled committee failed to subpoena key witnesses, including Mitsotakis himself, his nephew and intelligence officials handling the Androulakis wiretapping case.
“Mr. Mitsotakis should be here, sitting in this chair,” Androulakis reportedly told the committee on Sept. 30 during his closed-door testimony that concluded the witness hearing.
– “Covering up the truth” –
“I regret to see that your committee is doing too little to uncover the truth and much more to cover it up,” the socialist leader reportedly said.
Opposition parties are now hoping that an upcoming fact-finding visit by members of the European Parliament will shed more light on the matter.
The November 2-4 visit will be made by members of the all-party PEGA committee investigating alleged illegal use of spyware monitoring software.
Sophia in’T Veld, a Dutch member of the committee, says she was surprised that several potential key witnesses had not been summoned to testify.
Among them are representatives of the Israeli surveillance company Intellexa, which is said to be selling Predator in Greece.
“I am very surprised to know that their investigation into Intellexa has been extremely superficial so far,” the MEP from the centrist group Renew Europe told AFP.
“I also fear that all the evidence that was there has disappeared and this is very serious.
“It’s not just about one of the worst violations of human privacy… but also the impact of these types of operations on democracy and the rule of law.”
The scandal is casting a shadow over next year’s parliamentary elections.
Before the incident, the Androulakis Socialists were seen as a possible coalition partner for Mitsotakis, but that no longer seems possible.
In an interview with the Sunday Times last week, Mitsotakis hinted at the ulterior motive behind the wiretapping.
“If anyone wanted to drive a wedge between me and Pasok, who are our likely coalition partners, they certainly succeeded,” he said.
An opinion poll last month found that more than six in 10 Greeks believed Mitsotakis knew the wiretapping was taking place, despite his denials.
