Another Greek parliamentarian has claimed to have fallen victim to the spy programme Predator according to media reports.
Per Euroactiv, Christos Spirtzis, a leftist opposition lawmaker told the prosecutor on Friday (9 September) that his phone was also compromised.
Spirtzis, a former minister and lawmaker for the main opposition leftist Syriza party, was informed that his phone had been hacked by Predator, and he has now reported it to the chief prosecutor.
The list of those targeted by the software also includes socialist leader and MEP Nikos Androulakis and investigative journalists, such as Thanasis Koukakis.
Since the scandal erupted, the conservative New Democracy government has said it did not purchase Predator but has admitted that secret services were “legally” spying on the socialist leader.
However, the government has so far refused to reveal the reasons behind the surveillance invoking “national security”, while Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has said he was unaware of the socialist leader’s surveillance.
A parliamentary inquiry committee set up to investigate the scandal has not brought any results considering that the former secret services chief and the prime minister’s secretary general, who both resigned after the scandal, refused to explain the reasons for spying on the Greek opposition leader.
Main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras warned on Thursday that those who invoke “confidentiality” to cover up crimes “face criminal charges”.
The case has caused a political earthquake in Athens, dealing a severe blow to Mitsotakis’ “reformist” profile.
The issue was also discussed at the PEGA committee at the European Parliament on Thursday, but Greek government officials did not provide clear answers.
“I don’t know if the discussion today is as transparent as we would like. This is about European democracy. The question marks are very heavy. It’s about corruption, about freedom of the country, about elections and about democracy,” said MEP Róża Thun Und Hohenstein from Renew Europe.
[Euroactiv]