Media watchdog Reporters Without Borders has accused Greece of the “political sabotage” of a probe into a months-long wiretap scandal, as new allegations targeted a former prime ministerial aide.
“The investigation is at a complete standstill and Greek institutions seem determined not to let it progress,” the watchdog also known as RSF said in a statement late Thursday.
On Friday, a joint investigation by the European Investigative Collaborations network said that some of the phones had been infected in 2021 by text messages seemingly sent from the cellphone number of Grigoris Dimitriadis, the nephew of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis and one of his closest aides at the time.
There is no proof that Dimitriadis, who denies any wrongdoing, sent the messages himself, the investigators admitted.
At least 11 people including the prosecutor of the state intelligence agency EYP and the head of Greek police were targeted with the Predator malware, the media investigation including French online newspaper Mediapart, German magazine Der Spiegel and Greek site Reporters United said Friday.
Predator, like the Pegasus spyware from Israeli firm NSO that caused a global scandal in 2021, takes control of the camera and microphone of an infected phone, turning it into a pocket spy.
Separately, a number of senior officials were revealed last year to have been under surveillance by EYP, including several ministers and a European Parliament lawmaker Nikos Androulakis, who later became the leader of the Greek socialist party.
Dimitriadis resigned his position in August 2022 when the scandal erupted, as did the head of state intelligence.
The Greek government has been contacted for comment. In past months it has repeated that judicial authorities are investigating the case and has declined to comment further.
Source: AFP
