Article Author:
Associated Press
Elena Becatros
ATHENS, GREECE (AP) — The Greek prime minister realized on Monday that the country's intelligence services had tapped an opposition politician's mobile phone.
Kyriakos Mitsotakis, facing elections next year, has announced the resignation of Director of the National Intelligence Agency Panagiotis Contreon and the general's resignation. He made the remarks in a televised address to the nation three days after the wiretapping scandal that led to the Secretary of the Prime Minister's Office, Grigoris Dimitriadis.
"What happened may have followed the letter of the law, but it was wrong," Mitsotakis said. "I didn't know about it. Obviously I never allowed it," the National Intelligence Agency, known by the acronym EYP, responds directly to the prime minister's office. Mitsotakis made a change for himself after winning the 2019 election.
Mitsotakis said his Nikos Androulakis cell phone, who was running for president of the socialist opposition PASOK at the time, put him under "legal surveillance" for three months from September 2021. Stated. Days after Androulakis won the party leadership election, he said the wiretapping had stopped "automatically", but did not elaborate on why opposition politicians were being targeted.
"Even though everything was done legally, the NIA underestimated the political dimension of certain actions," Misotakis said. "It was formally appropriate, but politically unacceptable. There should be no rift in public confidence in the National Security Agency."
33} The prime minister said the head of the EYP was "immediately dismissed" for its improper handling of the matter, and that the general secretary of his own office "accepted objective political responsibility" by resigning. said.On Friday, the prime minister's office did not give a reason for Dimitriadis' resignation. However, government officials claimed it was "related to the toxic climate occurring around him" and had nothing to do with the spyware targeting Androulakis' phone.
Androulakis filed a complaint with the public prosecutor before the Greek Supreme Court on July 26, saying there had been an attempt to tap into his mobile phone with spyware named Predator.
An opposition politician who is also a member of the European Parliament said he became aware of the Predator wiretapping attempt a few days ago after being informed by the European Parliament's cybersecurity service.
Androulakis was considered the frontrunner to succeed him in the party leadership vote. As the leader of Greece's third party, his next move is due by mid-2023 at the latest, if no party wins enough seats to form a government without the need for a coalition partner, as it is now. In elections, he is likely to maintain the balance of power. polls suggest.
"I never thought the Greek government would put me under surveillance in the darkest way," he said on Friday following his resignation.
In April, Greek financial journalist Thanasis Koukakis was told by digital rights group Citizen Lab that his phone was targeted for surveillance by Predator software from July to September 2021. He said he was notified that it had happened. The Committee to Protect Journalists will launch a "prompt and thorough investigation ... () to identify who coordinated the surveillance and to hold them accountable."
The government has denied using the Predator's software, and Mitsotakis did not mention the journalist in his speech on Monday.
The Prime Minister said the government would propose changes to how his EYP operates. This includes internal changes to strengthen accountability and parliamentary oversight, transparency, personnel training and internal controls.
