Addressing the MEPs members of the PEGA committee, Mr. Androulakis noted: “Do we want to defend European values? Do we want to live in a Europe where respect for human rights, the rule of law, the separation of powers will determine its future, or do we want to live in a Europe where the worst practices, exploiting failed states, will become the norm?
Responding to the invitation of the PEGA inquiry committee of the European Parliament, the President of PASOK – Movement for Change Nikos Androulakis pdescribed the timing of his surveillance by the EYP and the attempt to trap his mobile phone with Predator software during the pre-election intra-party period.
“The first diabolical coincidence is that the Prime Minister transferred the EYP from the Ministry of Citizen Protection to the Prime Minister’s office. Second diabolical coincidence is that the Predator attempt coincides with the illegal surveillance of my country’s secret services. It’s exactly the same interval. With a difference of a few days in September 2021.
So basically we’re talking about two events that are synchronizing, even though the government says it’s not using the Predator but it’s not making the moves needed to finally find out who is using it, because I’m not the only case. The monitoring time by the EYP covers the entire pre-election period for the emergence of the leadership of our faction. Therefore there was a strong political interest. Since the beginning of this adventure there have been various leaks.
The first claimed that embassies of third countries asked my country to monitor me and named Ukraine and Armenia. Within a few hours, the embassies of the two countries replied that all this is fake news and they had never requested anything like this from the Greek secret services. It is obvious to me that the reasons are political. I can’t be an MEP for eight years and never have something like this happen to me, either with the Predator or with the country’s secret services, and suddenly I’m being watched as soon as I’ve declared that I want to be a candidate for the presidency of PASOK”.
Addressing MEPs members of the PEGA committee Mr. Androulakis noted: “Do we want to defend European values? Do we want to live in a Europe where respect for human rights, the rule of law, the separation of powers will determine its future, or do we want to live in a Europe where the worst practices, exploiting failed states, will become the norm?
I do not accept this as a socialist and I believe that we must fight to uphold European values and not allow this illegal software to be used to the detriment of Democracy and to the detriment of human rights as it happened in my case. It’s not a personal issue. For me it is a question of Democracy and we must all fight for a legislative framework that will determine a bright future and not a dark future of a middle age where oligarchs or politicians wanting to hold on to power tooth and nail use these unacceptable and dark practices ».
Asked about the attitude of the Government by the coordinator of the EPP in the commission of inquiry, Mr. Androulakis wondered: “Are they waiting for the victim to say why they were watching him and to find out who has the Predator in Greece?” The Government must say why it was following me. The Government needs to find out who has the Predator. I hear the invocation of a national discourse. What national reasons are behind a journalist investigating a scandal or behind a politician declaring himself a candidate for the leadership of a party? And it should trouble you, Mr. Alvarez, because the arguments you said are used many times by Ortega and Maduro. To trouble you too much. The same arguments you use against me, they use the regimes of Latin America. Be sure that I love Greece more than those who sent you these questions, because I would never use such fraudulent practices at the expense of our democracy to expose Greece internationally.”
“What do I ask of you? Those who were protected by the New Democracy so that we remain in the dark and do not learn the truth, when you come to Athens ask to see them so that we can gather more information” added the President of PASOK-Movement for Change and deconstructed the government’s narrative that it refuses to be informed: “We asked the current commander of the EYP to the Commission of Inquiry.
“Can Mr. Androulakis come and inform him?” Is it legal or illegal?’ And Mr. Demiris replies: “Oh, it’s innovation.” Because it is obviously illegal for me to go and get information from the EPA. And will I go illegal to avoid the responsibility from the Government? No. The Greek people will learn the truth in a legal way. Also, yesterday Mr. Mitsotakis gave an interview to the Sunday Times and what did he say? It is no longer a national issue. He says: “I don’t know what has happened in this case, but those who wanted to achieve something, achieved it. They broke my relations with PASOK”. After all, was the reason for the surveillance political or national? Because the Prime Minister changes his opinions like shirts. How does a Prime Minister say it’s a legitimate mistake if he doesn’t know the reason for the surveillance? And how does he fire his closest associate, his nephew, as secretary and head of the secret services if he doesn’t know the reason for the surveillance? No one wants to be burdened with this case. What I want is justice and transparency from everyone – both from the Greek Government and from the European Parliament – because this is our position as democrats, as progressives. Unless some others consider European values a la carte according to the party glasses you wear or the country of origin. No! These values are universal, European values and we must be their ambassadors around the world and not have phenomena that undermine these values within Europe.”
He pointed out the need for thorough investigation of issues regarding the operation of Intellexa and Krikel companies in Greece. “One of Krikel’s representatives came to the Investigative Committee in the Greek Parliament and said that this company was bought for 5,000 euros in 2017. The company in question under SYRIZA and Independent Greeks makes a direct contract with the Greek government in the amount of 1 million euros and for the Government of New Democracy 9 million euros. And while we ask that those involved in investigative journalism with the company come to the Commission of Inquiry, the Government refuses. So how does the Government cooperate? In fact, I read in the press that the Minister’s son, who concluded one of these agreements, then worked for this company,” Mr. Androulakis pointed out.
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