It has become known as Greece's Watergate: spyware software and Greek intelligence targeted the mobile phones of government ministers, senior military officers, judges, and journalists.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called it a scandal, but no government officials have been charged in court, and critics accuse the government of trying to cover up the truth.
Instead, a low-ranking judge will hear the case against two Israelis and two Greeks, allegedly involved with marketing spy software known as Predator.
What we know
In the summer of 2022, Nikos Androulakis, then an MEP and now the head of the socialist party Pasok, was notified by EU Parliament IT experts that he had received a hack attempt through a malicious text message that contained spy software.
The Predator spyware is marketed by the Athens-based Israeli company Intellexa and can access a device's messages, camera, and microphone – effectively turning a person's phone against them.
The situation escalated after Androulakis discovered he had also been tracked for 'national security reasons' by Greece's National Intelligence Service (EYP).
Just a month after his administration began in the summer of 2019, PM Mitsotakis placed EYP directly under his supervision, intensifying the scrutiny on his government.
The head of EYP, Panagiotis Kontoleon, resigned alongside the prime minister's aide, Grigoris Dimitriadis, who served as a link between EYP and the prime minister's office.
Evidence from a report by the Hellenic Data Protection Authority indicated that Predator had been used to illegally surveil at least 87 individuals, including serving ministers and military officers, under dubious circumstances.
Despite the government's claims that coincidences explained overlapping EYP and Predator targets, critics are skeptical of these assertions.
Was the government involved?
After the scandal was unveiled, Greece's government enacted new laws to bolster communication privacy. However, these changes have been criticized for limiting citizens' rights to know if they were previously surveilled.
The government has faced backlash for its apparent reluctance to investigate who was spying on its officials, particularly after a police raid of Intellexa's offices ended without significant discoveries.
Former judge Christos Rammos, key to unveiling the wiretapping scandal, expressed concern about the political system's response to independent authority.
The scandal has drawn international attention and consequences, with the European Parliament setting up a special inquiry committee into the use of Pegasus and similar surveillance technology.
Critics argue the government has consistently attempted to obscure the truth about the spyware scandal, undermining democracy and the principles of transparency.
