A “warning letter” from the company allegedly behind the sale of the illegal Predator spyware has caused anger after it was sent to members of the European Parliament’s committee (PEGA) tasked with investigating its use in Europe.
The lawyer of Intellexa company sent a letter to the head of the PEGA committee, Jeroen Lenaers (EPP), questioning the legality of the committee’s aim to shed light on the company’s activities.
EURACTIV was informed that Lenaers was annoyed by the spirit of the letter, which he found “threatening”, immediately sharing it with other committee members.
“The purpose of this notice is to inform you that recently, I have been asked by Intellexa S.A. to examine certain aspects of the legality and merits of the actions taken by the PEGA Committee about the Company,” the letter reads.
“The Company is in the process of assessing the proper course of action to address its contentions against the above actions and publication of the PEGA Committee […] In this respect, I advise that within 21 days, my client will revert with its official position and/or contentions,” the letter added.
In its recent report about the scandal, the PEGA committee concluded that Greece-based Intellexa companies exported their products to Bangladesh, Sudan, Madagascar and at least one Arab country.
“It is unknown if export licenses were granted to export spyware to all of these countries […] but the Greek government has admitted to granting export licenses to Intellexa to sell Predator spyware to oppressive governments”, the report reads.
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Leftist MEP Stelios Kouloglou said that Intellexa, which previously refused to meet with the PEGA committee, now shows up with an out-of-court notice.
“Just before the Greek elections, [the company] is trying to stop the criticism that is expressed at the highest level and to influence the content and the voting of the Reports that they expect to be a catapult for the political responsibilities and the institutional diversion of the Greek government,” Kouloglou said.
“Intellexa, which was protected by the government in every way, completely confirms the view that it returns support and serves the government’s election planning and the cover-up of the wiretapping scandal,” he added.
Time for answers
Renew Europe MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld also reacted, saying Intellexa finally showed up.
“Very much looking forward to the exchange with Intellexa. Maybe we will finally get some answers to our letters of last summer that have met with silence so far. Plenty more new questions have arisen since,” the Dutch MEP tweeted.
“Maybe Intellexa could start by giving answers to our so far unanswered questions. That could be a smart move in its process of assessing the proper course of action,” commented Green MEP Saskia Bricmont.
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(Sarantis Michalopoulos | EURACTIV.com)
Source: euractiv.com
