Government sources, as soon as the decision of the Supreme Court became known, said: “From the first moment we said that we await the decisions of the Court, which is a permanent position of the government. Justice spoke and presented the thorough and detailed result of its investigation. Regarding the part of the case that is still pending before the Court, we repeat our above-mentioned firm position regarding trust in the independent judicial authorities. We await with interest the opinions of all those who were quick to condemn official and political actors before the judgment of Justice”.
On its part, SYRIZA, PASOK, KKE, Pleussi Eleftherias, New Left launched heavy fire against Megaros Maximos, with government representative Pavlos Marinakis to respond to Stefanos Kasselakis who stated – since his holidays in Mykonos – that his confidence in the Judiciary has been shaken.
“Today in Greece, there are no “para-ministries of Justice” in Maximos, as they were during the SYRIZA government, according to what former minister Stavros Kontonis had cynically admitted. The judges decide as they judge, based on their independent role”, emphasized Pavlos Marinakis, while the former partner of the Prime Minister Grigoris Dimitriadis declared himself vindicated, pointing out: “From the first moment I directly and honestly assumed political responsibility, respecting democratic sensitivities of Greeks. But also to protect the Motherland, the Government and the Faction. In a climate of toxicity, I chose the hard way and kept quiet, even though I was never involved. The decision of the Court puts a definitive end to all speculation and other imaginative constructions”.
Stefanos Kasselakis, who is in Mykonos on vacation, said: “I am speaking to you as a Greek citizen and not as the Leader of the Official Opposition. Today, with the decision to archive the EYP-Predator scandal, my confidence in the Greek Justice system has been seriously shaken. Unfortunately, this now coincides with the widespread feeling of the Greek people that Justice is not the last refuge of the wronged. That is why one of the first proposals I have put forward to the Greek people is a radical change in the way the leadership of the Judiciary is selected, so that it is freed from the suffocating embrace and dependence on the respective government”.
Then a statement from SYRIZA stated that “as of today, the wiretapping scandal has the stamp of the leadership of the Supreme Court”. Sokratis Famellos, from the floor of the Parliament, said that there is a question of the credibility of the judiciary and that the decision of the Supreme Court “exposes the prime minister, who had apologized to Nikos Androulakis”.
The president of PASOK-KINAL, from the Plenary, launched an attack on the government saying: “The attempt to hide the responsibilities of Maximus and the deep state have infected the coordinated powers of the country. First, Maximus infected the secret services and now he infects the Judiciary as well. This is the reality. The wiretapping case is a double scandal, a surveillance scandal and a cover-up scandal.”
The KKE stated that “the conclusion of the Supreme Court on the wiretapping case is what the government wanted to cover up, once again, its enormous responsibilities”, while Zoe Konstantopoulou requested the convening of the Institutions and Transparency Committee of the Parliament in which, as he said, “all the documents of the preliminary examination must be forwarded by the Prosecutor’s Office of the Supreme Court together with the conclusion on the wiretapping case, to be discussed”.
The New Left and Alexis Haritsis said: “Today is a day of shame for our country. The Supreme Court put an end to the investigation into the responsibilities of the EYP in the surveillance scandal. This is the last step in a government plan that from the first moment wanted to convince us that there was never a scandal.”
Wiretapping case: This is the conclusion of the Supreme Court – The predator has nothing to do with the government agencies – The monitoring by EYP is legal
The Prosecutor’s Office of the Supreme Court announced the completion of the investigation into the case of wiretapping. According to her, the preliminary examination was completed after two years and nine months since the investigation was upgraded.
The Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, Georgia Adelini, issued the following statement today:
1. The preliminary examination for the wiretapping case was completed today, after (2) approximately two years in total, and (9) only nine months since the investigation was upgraded, with its assignment by the Prosecutor of the Supreme Court personally to the Deputy Prosecutor Achillea Zisi of the Supreme Court, due to the major importance of the case and to prevent the risk of statute of limitations of the investigated acts. Time is estimated to be of the utmost necessity in view of the unusual scope of the investigation and the in-depth investigation of every aspect of the case.
2. Indicatively, according to her, among others, almost all the witnesses proposed by the appellants-reporters, including politicians, journalists, representatives of mobile phone companies, Commanders and Deputy Commanders and other members of the National Intelligence Service (NIS) in the last 10 years were examined , members of the Communications Privacy Assurance Authority (ADAE) and the National Transparency Authority (NAA), Senior Officers of the Hellenic Police, the Directorate of Information Management and Analysis, Directorate of Financial Headquarters, etc. in recent years, as well as the Directorate of Electronic Prosecution Crime, in total more than forty (40) witnesses.
3. Three Independent Authorities were appointed, namely the Personal Data Protection Authority, the Communications Privacy Authority and the National Transparency Authority, which conducted investigations and on-site inspections of public bodies: Ministry of Defense of the Citizen (ELAS), National Intelligence Service (EYP), as well as to companies and submitted their reports and findings.
4. At the same time, the Directorate for the Prosecution of Electronic Crime carried out an examination of witnesses, which carried out searches of companies and homes of suspects, during which documents, tax information and digital evidence were seized, which were then examined by the Directorate of Criminal Investigations. Two requests for Judicial Assistance to the judicial authorities of the USA and Switzerland were made and answered. An audit was conducted by the Economic Police Directorate (Tax Police Department) on natural and legal persons and its conclusion was filed. Explanations were also received without prejudice, memoranda were submitted, etc.
5. All the requests of those involved were also satisfied, including the Judicial Expertise, which was carried out in the archives of the EYP by two experts, in the presence of the aforementioned public prosecutor. The preliminary examination resulted in an absolutely thorough conclusion of approximately 300 pages, which the above Deputy Prosecutor of the Supreme Court submitted to the Prosecutor, who agreed with both its legal and substantive content.
6. From the above rich evidentiary material, it can be concluded unequivocally that there was absolutely no involvement with the spy software predator or any other similar software of a government agency, namely the National Intelligence Service (NIS), the Anti-Terrorist (D.A.E.E. B.) and more generally of ELAS (Ministry of Citizen Protection) or any government official.
7. Regarding the provisions on declassification of communications, which were issued by the then Prosecutor of the Public Prosecutor’s Office and concern the years 2020-2024, the procedure provided for by the Law was strictly followed, which, among other things, over time, does not claim the citation of a special rationale in the above provisions, and the relevant provision, which was first established by Law 2225/1994, was continuously maintained by all Governments until the new Law 5002/9-12-2022, while it is in accordance with in the spirit of the Court of Justice of the European Union (see the decision of 16/2/2023 of the Court of Justice of the European Union in case C-349/21). It is also noted that for the above-mentioned EYP Prosecutor, after the relatively disciplinary preliminary examination carried out by a Deputy Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, an exculpatory conclusion was issued, with which the Vice-President of the Supreme Court, President of the Inspection Council of Courts.
8.Furthermore, there were “sufficient indications” at this stage for the initiation of criminal prosecution against certain legal representatives and real owners of companies, for criminal acts, such as the violation of the privacy of telephone communication, etc. However, these acts, due to the most lenient of their amendment in 2019, with the new PC (law 4619/2019), are punished as a misdemeanor and despite the fact that under the previous, but also the current legal regime (old PC and article 10 of law 5002/9-12 -2022, which amended the new Criminal Code) have the character of a felony, in accordance with the principle of the retroactive effect of the most lenient law (Article 2 of the Criminal Code), in view of the time of their execution, which concerns the years 2020 and 2021.
9. The required at this stage “sufficient evidence” for the initiation of criminal proceedings against the above individuals, which are mainly based on the finding that the companies in question are involved in similar acts of violating the privacy of telephone communications, etc., politicians, journalists etc. and in other countries, in combination with the fact of the existence of similar “targets” in Greece, it was decided that they should take the relevant charge to the audience to check its validity or not.
10.Finally, it should be noted that in no other country has such a thorough (Judicial) investigation been carried out – with the participation of three Independent Authorities – for a similar case, and in most cases similar investigations resulted in the imposition of simple sanctions and especially fines against the above companies involved.
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