By Yannis Souliotis
ATHENS (Reuters) – The former head of Greece’s EYP intelligence service has denied allegations that the state agency used illegal phone malware in 2019-2022 to spy on targets, court documents show.
Greece became mired in scandal in 2022 following allegations by an opposition party leader and a journalist that they had been under state surveillance via phone malware.
The allegations, made amid growing concern in the European Union about the use of spyware, prompted judicial investigations and led to the resignations of then head of EYP Panagiotis Kontoleon and the general secretary to the prime minister.
Journalist Thanasis Koukakis presented evidence that his phone was infected by Predator spyware, developed by Cytrox, a surveillance company within the Greece-based Intellexa consortium.
Traces of Predator were found in dozens of phones, including politicians and businessmen, according to an independent authority.
The conservative government has acknowledged it lawfully monitored the communications of Socialist party leader Nikos Androulakis. It has denied any wrongdoing.
Kontoleon, EYP chief from 2019 to 2022, testified in closed-door hearings in May as a witness over the case that has raised questions about protection of private communications in Greece.
“During my term, I’m categorical about it, EYP neither bought, nor rented or used illegal spying Predator software,” he told judges according to the documents seen by Reuters.
The government said at the time that Kontoleon stepped down “following mistaken actions found during lawful wiretapping procedures”. It did not give further details of what those actions were.
Kontoleon testified that all requirements were met before any wiretapping took place during his tenure and that any such request must be authorised by a prosecutor.
“On operational issues (information collection, choice of targets and methods … ) my political supervisors, the secretary general and the prime minister, were not informed and did not ask to be informed by me,” he said.
Grigoris Dimitriadis, the general secretary who resigned and who was EYP’s political supervisor in 2021-22, also testified that the service did not use such spyware.
Some of EYP’s targets during that period coincided with the people whose phones were infected with Predator, an experts’ report included in the documents said.
Intellexa’s founder Tal Dilian, who testified in July, has denied any involvement in the case or wrongdoing.
(Reporting by Yannis Souliotis; Writing by Renee Maltezou; Editing by Toby Chopra)
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