Commission of Inquiry: The conclusions of the New Democracy

New Democracy published its conclusions on the completion of the Commission of Inquiry on the monitoring.

It states in detail:

Like a paper tower, the opposition’s complaints regarding the scandal surrounding the legal connection of Mr. Androulakis’s mobile phone and the operation of the EYP collapsed like a paper tower.

On the procedure

From the work of the Parliamentary Investigative Committee and the statements of all the witnesses, it emerges with absolute clarity that the government served the purpose of investigating the Androulakis case, the institutional shielding of the framework of legal declassifications and the need to strengthen the operation of the EYP.
At government level: As soon as the relevant facts emerged, an Act of Legislative Content was issued for the immediate strengthening of the institutional guarantees in the EYP, with the obligation to listen to the Governor and the reinstatement of the need to approve the request for the legal removal of confidentiality also by a second prosecutor, a provision that had been repealed in 2018 the SYRIZA-ANEL government.
At the level of the parliament: Immediately after the complaints of the President of PASOK-KINAL, the government activated the relevant parliamentary procedures and immediately responded to the requests of the parties for the convening of all parliamentary formations. In addition to the rapid ratification of the act of legislative content where there was also the relevant debate in the Plenary of the Parliament, the Prime Minister asked the President of the Parliament to convene the competent Institutions and Transparency Committee and accepted the debate before the agenda and the formation of the inquiry committee. In the Institutions Committee, the governors of the EYP since 2012, the former Secretary General of the Prime Minister, the President of the Anti-Corruption Commission and the on-site Prosecutor of the EYP testified, while in the inquiry committee, apart from the governors and the president, the Deputy Governor of the National Authority testified Transparency, the President of PASOK-KINAL, the legal representative of the Krikel company and the legal representative of the Intellexa company (in writing due to its headquarters abroad).
At the level of justice: The Minister of Justice, in a telephone conversation with the prosecutor of the Supreme Court, called on the judicial function to consider Mr. Androulakis’ appeal as a matter of priority.
On a political level: The objective political responsibility of the Androulakis case was assumed with the resignations of the general secretary of the Prime Minister and the commander of the EYP.
At the level of management audits: In addition to the extensive audit carried out by the National Transparency Authority on public and private bodies, ADAE received information from the relevant mobile telephony company about the legal de-privacy of Mr. Androulakis’s phone by the EYP in September 2021 and is already conducting extraordinary extensive audits in the EYP and other agencies.
As far as confidentiality is concerned by officials of services bound by confidentiality rules and its invocation has been a field of controversy, it is clear that confidentiality is a subjective right and obligation of every public official who invokes it and is not subject to the control of the authority where it is given each time the testimony. The testimony of the President of ADAE is typical, he stated that he is not bound by the confidentiality of the Investigative Committee, but he invoked it in his response to the request addressed to him by Mr. Androulakis regarding his case.

Regarding the legal de-privacy of the Androulakis phone

From the statements of the witnesses and the documents presented, it appears that the declassification of Mr. Androulakis’s mobile phone was completely legal based on a request from the EYP service, signed by officials and the EYP commander, to the competent prosecutor who issued declassification provision. From the testimony of the former commander of the EYP, Panagiotis Kontoleons, it emerged that all the prescribed legal procedures were followed.
As it emerged from the depositions as a whole, under the Constitution and the laws regarding the protection of the privacy of communications there is absolutely no exemption from the lifting of privacy for any class of citizens. Therefore, based on the Constitution and executive law 2225/1994, it is accepted that the lifting of confidentiality can also be carried out for MPs or MEPs. After all, the involvement of political figures in acts against national security knowingly or unknowingly cannot be ruled out a priori. In addition, the same law describes the elements that must be included in the declassification order both in the case of national security reasons and for the identification of crimes.
There was no evidence that the Prime Minister, his office and his associates knew about the declassification at any stage. This was assured by Panagiotis Kontoleon, who was in charge at the time, adding that the Prime Minister, as the political head of the EYP, set the general goal-setting framework without taking knowledge of substantive or procedural issues of the service’s operation. After all, this was the standard practice, as confirmed by former commander Theodoros Dravilas. The current commander Themistoklis Demiris further testified that he did not give any order to destroy any file.
From the testimony of ADAE president Christos Rammos, it was confirmed that the EYP proceeded to remove the privacy of Mr. Androulakis in compliance with the law and under the control of the EYP prosecutor, while for none of the political figures who applied to find out if they were being monitored, including of Mr. Spirtzis, there was no monitoring by the EYP.
The position of Mr. Androulakis about political expediency behind his two-month monitoring is negated by the standing tactic of the EYP as described in their testimony by all the previous administrators who appeared before the Commission of Inquiry, that is, the legal attachments last for two months in any case no exceptions.

About illegal tracking software

The attempt to trap the mobile phone with the Predator malware emerged beyond all doubt that it was not carried out by the EPA or any other public body. Especially on the critical issue of the possible use of Predator surveillance software in Greece, the government responded that neither this, nor any other similar, malicious system is used by the State or any of its agencies. It was confirmed that the State has not procured illegal surveillance software, while the examination revealed that the Krikel company had entered into a collaboration and hardware supply contract – not connected to surveillance software, however – with the Ministry of Civil Protection since 2018, i.e. during the SYRIZA government, and surveillance contracts from EL.AS. The owner and manager of Krikel testified that the company’s contracts with the Greek government, which began in March 2018, do not concern the Predator malware or similar systems, but rather intercom machines used by ELAS executives to communicate with each other. In addition, he stated that he has never cooperated with EYP and that he does not know Mr. Dimitriadis personally. The manager of the Intellexa company stated that she has never sold products or services to natural persons, government agencies or other entities in Greece, there is no relationship between the Intellexa and Krikel companies and that she has never had contact with Mr. Demetriades and Condoleon.
All administrators stated that EYP never procured malware. The deputy commander of the EAD, Alexandra Rogaku, testified that ELAS and EYP have not entered into contracts that allow the use of Predator-type software. EAD’s investigation into EYP’s contracts was thorough and targeted.

Regarding the lifting of confidentiality on SYRIZA-ANEL

The testimonies of the witnesses completely clarified the landscape and illuminated all aspects and showed that during the SYRIZA-ANEL government, government officials with the knowledge of Mr. Tsipras were monitored by the EYP
The former commander of the EYP Rubatis confessed that government officials were monitored during the SYRIZA – ANEL period. The connection made to Mr. Picciorla’s phone began at the beginning of 2016 until the end of that year even when he had been appointed as of November 2016, a minister of the government. The then prime minister Alexis Tsipras was informed by the then commander of the EYP Yiannis Roubatis about the imminent connection to the phone of Mr. Pitsiorlas and approved the action. Dravilas’ predecessor expressed his anger at those who claimed that during his tenure from July 2012 to January 2015 there was monitoring of Mr. Saia and Picciorla. The president of PASOK-KINAL downplayed Rubati’s revelations regarding the monitoring of Piciorla, facts he diligently avoided mentioning despite the questions asked by the committee members.

Proposals for upgrading the institutional framework

Serving the need to make the operation of the EYP more transparent, without jeopardizing its efficiency and the critical mission it has to perform in the defense of our national rights, we submit a series of proposals that provide for:
-Strengthening the framework of legal declassification for political figures. In addition to the approval of any legal declassification by a second Prosecutor, the activation of an additional filter, rather by a political person, should be evaluated. The circle of politicians includes members of the government and deputy ministers, MPs, MEPs, general/special secretaries, as well as presidents/secretaries of political parties.
-Changes within EYP to strengthen internal control, transparency, extroversion and training of its human resources.
– Prohibition of the sale of tracking software to individuals and the establishment of a separate provision that will prohibit and punish the sale (sale and purchase) of tracking software to individuals.
-Interventions in the context of personal data protection, organizational strengthening of the FSA to fulfill its constitutional role, creation of a Cyber ​​Security body as a coordinating mechanism, re-evaluation of the institutional framework of disclosure to the subject, regarding the imposition of the restrictive measure of the removal of confidentiality, investment to protect the country’s critical infrastructure from security threats and invest recovery fund resources in this direction.
-Awareness of citizens and agencies. In this context, it is recommended that the competent structures of the state communicate with citizens and agencies regarding recommendations for the use of technological devices and applications, as well as the establishment of digital security seminars at all levels of formal education.

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