In the question, the SYRIZA MPs talk about attempts by the government to cover up the issue
A question to the Prime Minister, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, on the issue of mobile phone surveillance with Predator software was submitted by SYRIZA MPs Giorgos Katrougalos, Nikos Voutsis, Spyros Lappas, Theofilos Xanthopoulos, Pavlos Polakis and Nikos Filis.
In response to the question, the SYRIZA MPs refer to attempts by the government to cover up the issue and state:
“An important issue of political life is illegal monitoring through malware (spyware) Predator and the government’s attempts to cover it up. For this reason, SYRIZA-PS and PASOK-KINAL requested an extraordinary convocation of the Institutions and Transparency Committee, with the presence of the Governor of the EYP.
After the end of the secret meeting, according to the Regulations of the Parliament, intense confusion was created in public opinion by contradictory publications, following government methods, as to what exactly Mr. Governor stated in relation to the reason of national security for which he was asked by the EYP, according to article 3 of Law 2225/1994, the monitoring (connection) of the mobile phone of the journalist Mr. Thanasis Koukakis and especially if this was done at the request of a foreign secret service.
Because the leaks from government sources are deliberately obfuscating the issue, in the context of the broader effort to downplay and cover up the case of illegal surveillance, detailed explanations should be given. And this is because the issue is of wider interest, given that whoever attempted the illegal surveillance of Mr. .Koukaki, after the stoppage of the law enforcement, is the same one who tried to contaminate the phone of the President of PASOK-KINAL, Mr. N. Androulakis, since in both cases the same trap link was used.
It is recalled that immediately after Mr. Koukakis submitted a question to the Anti-Corruption Commission on whether his phone was being monitored, the EYP requested on the same day (12-8-2020) the cessation of the legal monitoring of him, to be immediately followed by the illegal monitoring of his via the Predator malware. And the government representative, in an attempt at obvious misinformation, was talking about differences between individuals.
The government’s cover-up responsibilities also arise from the fact that the government, with an amendment signed by its Vice-President, Mrs. Pikramenos, attempted to manipulate the competent independent authority, ADAE, by modifying, and indeed retroactively, its competence, so that it is prohibited to then the person being monitored must be informed, even if there is no public interest reason.
The President of ADAE with his scientific article highlighted the unconstitutionality and opposition to the European Convention of the provision. As you know, we tabled an amendment to repeal this unacceptable regulation, which was rejected by the Government.
The issue is also of particular importance because the country has been exposed internationally, given that surveillance of journalists is one of the reasons for our country’s downgrade in international press freedom reports.
Due to the nature of the issue, the procedure that the Parliament has followed in the past should be followed on issues that are covered by confidentiality, such as e.g. in relation to the Prespa Agreement.
Following the above, the Prime Minister is asked:
1. There was a reason of national security for which the EYP was requested, according to article 3 of Law 2225/1994, to monitor (connect) the mobile phone of the journalist Mr. Koukakis and who was he? Was there a relevant foreign secret service request, and if so, which one?
2. Why was monitoring of Mr. Koukakis’ phone interrupted by the EYP? Has the national security reason disappeared? How do you explain that immediately after the interruption followed the surveillance, through the malicious software (spyware) Predator?
Athens, 1/08/2022
The questioning members of parliament
George Katrougalos
Nikolaos Voutsis
Spyros Lappas
Theofilos Xanthopoulos
Pavlos Polakis
Nikos Philis”
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