Lawyers Criticise Judicial Investigation in High-Profile Wire Tapping Case

Lawyers representing plaintiffs in the prominent phone tapping case have raised concerns about omissions in the judicial investigation, following the Supreme Court Prosecutor's announcement on Tuesday regarding the completion of the preliminary examination.

The lawyers were reportedly surprised by the swift evaluation of the case file submitted by Deputy Prosecutor Achilleas Zisis. A key legal objection centers on the decision to charge the four individuals involved with the illegal Predator spyware with misdemeanours rather than felonies. The lawyers argue that legislation passed in 2019 mandates felony charges if the democratic system or national security is threatened by personal data violations.

Zacharias Kesses, the lawyer for journalist Thanasis Koukakis, emphasised that the wiretapping of journalists, PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis, and the Chief of the Hellenic Armed Forces, Konstantinos Floros, warrants more severe charges. Additionally, legal experts note that crucial witnesses were not summoned by Zisis, despite their relevance to the case.

For instance, employees from a business in Marousi, linked to Intelexa, the company behind the Predator software, were not called to testify even though they removed equipment from the office following the Citizen Lab's report on Predator’s presence in Greece. Similarly, Intelexa employees who underwent COVID testing were not summoned, despite authorities having their names.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers argue that Zisis failed to ask critical questions during testimonies, such as omitting inquiries about the surveillance of Androulakis and Koukakis from former National Intelligence Service (EYP) director Panagiotis Kontoleon. Furthermore, Zisis did not request information from the USA regarding the US Treasury Department's sanctions against Intelexa. Yiannis Matzouranis, the lawyer for former journalist and MEP Giorgos Kyrtsos, also criticised the lack of requests for physical files of monitored individuals during the inspection at EYP.

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