Greek opposition seeks no-confidence motion for government regarding surveillance scandal

By Ahmet Gencturk

ANKARA (AA) - Greece’s main opposition party announced Wednesday it filed a no-confidence motion against the Nea Dimokratia (ND) government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis concerning the surveillance scandal that has shaped the country’s political scene since last summer.

National Intelligence Service (EYP), supervised by Mitsotakis under the guise of national security and with successive provisions signed by prosecutor Vasiliki Vlachou violated the confidentiality of communications and intercepted telephone communications of politicians, members of parliament, European deputies, ministers, army officers, journalists, and the leadership of the Greek Armed Forces, said SYRIZA leader Alexis Tsipras during an address to parliament.

“Now it is time for society, political parties, and competent authorities to take a clear position, to assume their responsibilities,” he said.

“Nobody has the right to turn a blind eye because what is happening does not only concern some reputable constitution expert but concerns citizens’ lives,” warned Tsipras.

Arguing that the government is not only incompetent but deeply undemocratic, he said a massive surveillance campaign was orchestrated by Mitsotakis who wanted to take control of the governance.

Tsipras then revealed the names of six prominent figures who were mentioned in the file that was sent to him by Greece’s Authority for Communication Security and Privacy (ADAE).

Accordingly, apart from the Chief of General Staff Gen. Konstantinos Floros, Gen. Theodoros Laios, Gen, Charalambos Lalousis, Vice-Admiral Aristides Alexopoulos, Minister of Labor Kostis Hatzidakis, and former National Security Advisor Alexandros Diakopoulos were confirmed to have been under EYP surveillance.

- Surveillance scandal

The ever-expanding scandal exploded in Greece last summer when Thanasis Koukakis, a well-known financial journalist reported that his mobile phone had been tapped with Israeli-made Predator spyware.

Things escalated after Nikos Androulakis, leader of the PASOK-KINAL opposition party and a member of the European Parliament, also revealed that he was targeted with Predator spyware, triggering a parliamentary probe on the matter.

On Aug. 4, Panagiotis Kontoleon, who then headed the EYP, admitted before a committee of lawmakers that the agency was spying on Koukakis.

Days later, Mitsotakis disclosed that Androulakis was also wiretapped but denied any knowledge of the operation.

Mitsotakis was left with no option but to force Kontoleon to resign, as well as his top aide and nephew Grigoris Dimitriadis.

On Nov. 6, the Documento newspaper published a list of 33 people who were allegedly spied on by the EYP on Dimitriadis' direct orders.

They included Foreign Minister Nikos Dendias, Deputy Defense Minister Nikolaos Chardalias, Development Minister Adonis Georgiadis, Labor Minister Kostis Hatzidakis, Finance Minister Christos Staikouras, former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, former Public Order Minister Michalis Chrysochoidis and former National Security Adviser Alexandros Diakopoulos.

A later report by the daily claimed that the EYP, which works directly under Mitsotakis, also wiretapped Chief of General Staff Konstantinos Floros, Chief of Land Forces Charalambos Lalousis and General Director of Defense Investments and Armaments Theodoros Lagios.

Opposition parties blame Mitsotakis for the scandal and have called for his government to hold snap elections, a measure he rejects.

The European Commission and European Parliament have also said they were closely monitoring developments related to the scandal.