Greek telecom watchdog can't probe wiretaps, says top court prosecutor

By Ahmet Gencturk

ANKARA (AA) – Greece's communications watchdog is no longer authorized to investigate wire taps on private citizens, a Supreme Court prosecutor said on Tuesday.

In a legal opinion, prosecutor Isidoros Dogiakos said the Authority for Communication Security and Privacy (ADAE) was not competent in managing inquiries by citizens or phone service providers on whether numbers had been monitored for reasons related to national security, reported multiple news outlets, including the Kathimerini daily.

In the opinion requested by telecom companies OTE and Cosmote, Dogiakos said violations could fetch prison sentences of up to a decade.

He noted that a three-member panel of two prosecutors and the head of the ADAE was now responsible for examining such requests on a case-by-case basis.

Earlier this month, Greek media reported that the ADAE intended to scrutinize the records of telecom companies as an illegal surveillance scandal involving top opposition politicians and the country's intelligence service has continued to rattle the country since last August.

The privacy watchdog also reportedly planned to ask Alexis Tsipras, former prime minister and leader of the main opposition SYRIZA party, to submit specific phone numbers he wanted to be checked for possible surveillance.

- Surveillance scandal

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

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, triggering a parliamentary probe on the matter.

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

Days later, Prime Minister Kyriakos 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, Greek publication Documento 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 Thodoris 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.