Greek opposition events slammed the Supreme Court prosecutor Wednesday for saying the nation’s telecom watchdog can not probe wiretaps.
Alexis Tsipras, chief of the principle opposition get together Syriza, mentioned on Twitter that Isidoros Dogiakos’ authorized opinion is unconstitutional for saying that beneath the brand new regulation in pressure, the Independent Authority for Communication Security and Privacy (ADAE) not has the ability to tell residents whether or not their communications have been intercepted or monitored for causes associated to nationwide safety.
He accused the prosecutor of making an attempt to intimidate not solely officers of the ADAE but in addition anybody else who’s on the lookout for proof associated to the surveillance scandal that has rocked the political scene since final summer season.
“I declare to him that I renounce my parliamentary immunity. Mr. Prosecutor, I am waiting for you to arrest me!” Tsipras went on to say.
The Greek Communist Party (KKE) launched an announcement saying that the “so-called independent judiciary” is formed by politicians and consequently acts as an arm of the federal government.
Michalis Kritridis, the spokesperson for the leftist MeRA25 get together, mentioned the prosecutor’s transfer “demonstrates the depth of Greece’s institutional decline.”
The PASOK get together, whose chief Nikos Androulakis has been one of many protagonists of the surveillance scandal, accused the prime minister and the federal government Wednesday of “brutally abusing the institutions on the altar of a cover-up.”
Surveillance scandal
The ever-expanding scandal exploded in Greece final summer season, when Thanasis Koukakis, a well known monetary journalist in Greece, reported that his cellular phone had been tapped with Israeli-made Predator spyware and adware.
Things escalated after Nikos Androulakis, chief of the PASOK-KINAL opposition get together and a member of the European Parliament, additionally revealed that he was focused with Predator spyware and adware, triggering a parliamentary probe on the matter.
On Aug. 4, Panagiotis Kontoleon, who then headed the National Intelligence Service (EYP), admitted earlier than a committee of lawmakers that the company was spying on Koukakis.
Days later, Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis disclosed that Androulakis was additionally wiretapped however denied any information of the operation.
Mitsotakis was left with no choice however to pressure Kontoleon to resign, in addition to his high aide and nephew Grigoris Dimitriadis.
On Nov. 6, the Greek publication Documento printed an inventory of 33 individuals who had been 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 every day claimed that the EYP, which works immediately beneath Mitsotakis, additionally wiretapped Chief of General Staff Konstantinos Floros, Chief of Land Forces Charalambos Lalousis and General Director of Defense Investments and Armaments Theodoros Lagios.
Opposition events blame Mitsotakis for the scandal and have referred to as for his authorities to carry snap elections, a measure he rejects.
The European Commission and European Parliament have additionally mentioned they had been carefully monitoring developments associated to the scandal.
