The Hellenic Authority for Communication Security and Privacy (ADAE) has decided to check the records of telecommunications providers for surveillance requests made by Greek secret services.
The decision came following a EURACTIV report which shook Greece’s political scene after it was found that another politician and journalist were under surveillance.
Greece’s privacy watchdog will set up a special team to check the records of all telecommunication companies to see if Greek secret services have asked for the waiving of confidentiality of phone calls for specific people.
ADAE has also asked the opposition parties to provide specific phone numbers to be checked, considering that more than 15,000 surveillance activities occur annually in Greece.
Several press reports in Athens suggested that several politicians, journalists and businessmen have been under surveillance ordered by the secret services.
The so-called “Greek Watergate” has drawn fierce criticism by international media and journalists’ associations and is considered an open wound ahead of the national elections to be held before summer.
The Greek conservative New Democracy government (EPP) has only admitted the surveillance of socialist opposition leader Nikos Androulakis but has so far refused to reveal the reasons by invoking national security matters.
Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has tried to keep his distance from the scandal, saying he was unaware of Androulakis’ surveillance.
However, the first law he enacted as PM was to take the secret services under his helm, and when the scandal was revealed, he fired both the head of his office and his nephew Grigoris Dimitriadis and the chief of the secret service.
In mid-December, EURACTIV exclusively reported that ADAE, an independent authority whose function is provided in the Greek constitution, wanted to carry out an audit in telecommunication company Cosmote following requests submitted to the authority by Renew Europe MEP Giorgos Kyrtsos and investigative journalist Tasos Telloglou who wanted to find out whether they were under surveillance.
EURACTIV reported that the audit confirmed that both men were under surveillance by secret services, but the reasons were not disclosed, citing ‘national security’.
EXCLUSIVE: Another MEP and journalist the latest victims of ‘Greek Watergate’
Renew Europe MEP Giorgos Kyrtsos and investigative journalist Tasos Teloglou are the new victims of the “Greek Watergate”, a wiretapping scandal that has been shaking Athens for months.
Meanwhile, the independent authority faced difficulties in carrying out the audit.
Greece’s Prosecutor of the Supreme Court allegedly attempted to block it by saying it was illegal. Following the article’s publication, Greece’s Prosecutor of the Supreme Court said he did not try to block the audit but just expressed an opinion over the authority’s competence to carry out such controls.
For his part, the head of ADAE, Christos Rammos, a senior judge whose insistence on shedding light on the case has disturbed the government, issued a statement saying that the authority acts by the Constitution.
The opposition parties claim that the government, together with the justice system, is trying to block any attempt to shed light on the wiretapping cases and aim to sweep the scandal under the carpet until the national elections.
Following EURACTIV’s revelation, Renew Europe MEP Sophie in ‘t Veld stated that the number of revelations coming from Greece seems endless.
“We must get to the bottom of this scandal: no stone should be left unturned. Victims should get full clarification as soon as possible. The silence of the European Commission and Europol is baffling and unacceptable”, the Dutch MEP said.
Referring to this specific incident, an EU official told EURACTIV that it would be for the national authorities to examine.
But the EU official reiterated that “any attempts by national security services to illegally access data of citizens, including journalists and political opponents, if confirmed, is unacceptable.”
“We follow the situation in Greece, as well as other member states, very closely. We have been monitoring the use of spyware on a more regular basis through other means, for instance, in the Rule of Law Report. The official said that the use of spyware is one of the issues covered in the 2022 Rule of Law Report, including the country chapter on Greece”, the official said.
What Europol says
EURACTIV also contacted Europol, the European Union’s law enforcement agency, and asked if it’s in contact with the Greek authorities over the matter and if the agency has jurisdiction to take action.
A Europol spokesperson said the agency’s role is “limited” as national security remains the sole responsibility of each member state.
“We, therefore, do not have the role to ‘police’ or ‘supervise’ the competent authorities in member states,” the Europol spokesperson said.
The spokesperson added that Europol is in close exchange with the designated PEGA committee of the European Parliament.
“Europol assesses the developments and is in contact with the respective authorities of the member states on a case-by-case basis to obtain any relevant information for Europol and to offer support, against the background of the following important key aspects:
- Article 4 of the Treaty on European Union (TEU) determines that “national security remains the sole responsibility of each Member State”.
- Article 88(3) of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU): “Any operational action by Europol must be carried out in liaison and in agreement with the authorities of the Member State or States whose territory is concerned. The application of coercive measures shall be the exclusive responsibility of the competent national authorities.”
- According to Article 6 of Europol’s amended Regulation, Europol can “propose to the competent authorities of the Member State concerned, via its national units, to initiate, conduct or coordinate a criminal investigation.
(Sarantis Michalopoulos | EURACTIV.com – Edited by Alice Taylor)
Source: euractiv.com
