It has become known as Greece's Watergate: spyware software and Greek intelligence targeted the mobile phones of government ministers, senior military officers, judges, and journalists.
Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called it a scandal, but no government officials have been charged in court and critics accuse the government of trying to cover up the truth.
Instead, a low-ranking judge will on Wednesday hear the case against two Israelis and two Greeks, allegedly involved with marketing spy software known as Predator.
What we know
In the summer of 2022, the current head of socialist party Pasok, Nikos Androulakis - then an MEP - was informed by the EU Parliament's IT experts that he had received a malicious text message from an unknown sender, containing spy software.
This Predator spyware, marketed by the Athens-based Israeli company Intellexa, can gain access to a device's messages, camera, and microphone – effectively turning a person's phone against them.
Things escalated when Androulakis also discovered that he had been tracked for national security reasons by Greece's National Intelligence Service (EYP).
Just a month after taking office in 2019, PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis had placed EYP directly under his supervision.
Following the revelations, the head of EYP, Panagiotis Kontoleon, and the prime minister's top aide, Grigoris Dimitriadis, resigned amid the fallout. The spyware was used to monitor at least 87 people, including government ministers and military officers, leading to significant public outcry.
Despite the government's insistence that there was no connection between EYP and the use of Predator, criticism mounted after authorities failed to explain why key individuals were targeted.
Government Response
The scandal drew international attention, prompting the Greek government to implement new laws regarding communication confidentiality but with criticisms that citizens were stripped of their rights to know if they had previously been surveilled.
Many have questioned why the investigation into who spied on government officials was not more thorough, as recent reports by the Supreme Court seemed to absolve the government from blame.
As the trial commences for the four private individuals charged with misdemeanor offenses related to the marketing of Predator, focus remains on the broader implications for accountability and transparency not only within Greece but in any democracy.
