Eliza Triantafillou knows the Greek government has been trying to track down her report, but she remains undaunted. She met with sources and provided financial records regarding Greece’s surveillance of its citizens for nearly a year.
This week, Triantafillou and her colleague, Tasos Tellloglou, published another investigation in investigative media outlet Inside Story, bridging the gap in the complicated story.
Their report indicates that the Greek government secretly sent millions of dollars to a company that sold illegal Predator spyware.
How it started
disclosure Greece’s surveillance of its own politicians and journalists broke for the first time in the middle of this year.
Since then, almost week after week, the allegations and investigations have accumulated into a complex but related scandal.
The Greek government has acknowledged, in official statements and leaks, that the country’s National Intelligence Service has authorized the wiretapping of at least one journalist and one Greek member of the European Parliament. Europe.
But even more disturbing is the evidence that the illegal spyware Predator has been deployed against these people and dozens of other politicians and journalists, and there are indications that the software This illegal spy was purchased and used by the Greek government.
So far, the scandal, commonly known as the “Greek Watergate” has led to the resignation of the prime minister’s secretary-general and director of national intelligencean investigation by the Greek parliament, an investigation by the European Parliament into the use of spyware in Greece and repeated calls for the resignation of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
The Greek government has repeatedly denied any use or purchase of Predator. But Greek journalists spent months digging into the labyrinthine connections between spyware companies and the Greek state.
The Predator malware has the ability to access every text, call, photo and password on a mobile phone, as well as the ability to open the phone’s camera and microphone – turning any device into a mobile surveillance bug. motion.
Infested with predators
In April, Inside Story reported that Greek financial journalist, Thanasis Koukakis, had confirmed that his phone was infected with Predator.
They previously revealed that a consortium of companies called Intellexa, headquartered in Athens, sells Predator.
A few days later, Reporters United, a Greek investigative media network, reported that Koukakis had previously been spied on by the national intelligence agency, which was intercepted on the day he filed the complaint. to the Greek state that he was being watched.
Journalists Thodoris Chondrogiannos and Nikolas Leontopoulos at The US Reporter began investigating the story in December 2021, following a tip to review new law prohibiting the Greek Media and Privacy Authority from notifying citizens that they are under surveillance.
“From the very beginning, we thought that if they changed the law, it wouldn’t just be about Thanasis Koukakis, it would have to be a larger network of people,” Chondrogiannos told Al Jazeera.
“We think it’s a very important story regarding the protection of democracy and the right to privacy protected by the Constitution.”
Bit by bit
Over the course of the year, two investigative teams have grasped the story: an Inside Story investigation revealed a group of businessmen with connections to both official Greek government suppliers and Intellexa.
Another investigation by the United Reporter established business ties from Grigoris Dimitriadis, the prime minister’s secretary general – and grandson, that led to the entrepreneurs joining Intellexa.
Dimitriadis responded to that story by denying the connections and allegations made.
Dimitriadis has now sued Chondrogiannos and other journalists who bit by bit connected the wires between his business dealings with those of those associated with Intellexa and Predator.
“We feel very confident in our story. We make sure that we have followed all the principles of journalistic work. We are confident that we can support our report even in court,” Chondrogiannos said.
“The fact that Dimitriadis has a business connection with Intellexa could mean nothing if he wasn’t in charge of the National Intelligence Service. The fact that he is involved in a scandal and has connections to these people is something that the public should be aware of.”
Four other businessmen involved in the report have also brought legal complaints against Chondrogiannos and his colleagues.
Upside down
In June, an intelligence source told Inside Story’s Tasos Tellloglou that he, his colleagues Eliza Triantafillou, Thodoris Chondrogiannos and Thanasis Koukakis were being monitored due to their reports – the Greek government was following track their cell phone’s location with an antenna and try to determine if their movements match up with sources inside the government.
Triantafillou also noticed that she was sometimes followed on her way to meet the sources.
“It’s confirmation that we’re on the right track,” said Triantafillou. “I choose to see it as confirmation that we did our job and we did a great job.”
“The only problem is that we have to go to meetings and have to keep our backs clean and check from time to time to see if we are being watched, or we have to change our route to go to the meeting. Beyond that, I believe it has the opposite effect – it pushes us to dig deeper into this story,” she added.
In July, the wiretapping story completely entered a new Greek cycle when Nikos Androulakis, leader of Greece’s third-largest political party and member of the European Parliament, filed a complaint that he was also targeted by the Predator.
This led to the revelation that Androulakis was also under surveillance by the national intelligence agency for unspecified national security concerns.
pointing finger
A wave of outcry ensued, with fingers pointed at the ruling New Democrats and the prime minister for both the official and the illegal wiretapping.
Prime Minister Mitsotakis acknowledged that the National Intelligence Service had ordered the surveillance of Koukakis, but blamed other members of his government.
His government has repeatedly denied any connection to the Predator.
In the following months, an investigation by the Greek Communications and Privacy Authority into the Koukakis case concluded that the Greek government did not purchase Predator.
But journalists and opposition politicians have said the investigation is not complete.
A committee of the European Parliament has urge Greece to do a more complete exploration. However, the scandal continued to spread.
Last week, a front-page article in the left-leaning newspaper Documento alleged that, according to unnamed sources, more than 30 senior politicians and journalists – including a former prime minister, foreign minister and editor. of one of Greece’s largest newspapers – there was a trace of Predator on their phones.
‘Astonishing lie’
In a television interview, Mitsotakis called the list “an incredible lie” containing “no evidence that this actually happened and absolutely no connection.” with me personally”.
Documento editor-in-chief Kostas Vaxevanis supported his report.
“History has proven that every single piece of information published by Documento is true,” he said in an email to Al Jazeera, listing several other revelations Documento made public that he said had been challenged. but was ultimately proven correct.
“The role of the journalist is to make public what the respective authorities do not want to publish,” Vaxevanis said.
He added: “The Documento newspaper is determined to publish the truth, despite the fact that it has repeatedly become the victim of slander by government officials and has suffered financial strangulation efforts. .
In a TV news release on Tuesday, Vaxevanis promised more revelations next weekend.
Triantafillou at Inside Story said she will continue to investigate links between Predator and the Greek government.
“The National Transparency Service investigated Koukakis’ case very poorly, the government did nothing, and the justice system was working very, very slowly,” she said.
“So we need to keep digging and writing about this story and keep investigating until someone comes up with a solution to this problem – illegal wiretapping of Greek citizens. “
The United Reporter’s Chondrogiannos has similar plans to keep digging.
“We’re not done with the story yet,” Chondrogiannos said. “This story is not a revelation, or a story widely read and covered by the press, but about finding out the truth. It’s a matter of democracy and free speech. The outcome of this story will determine the future of our society.”
