Greece's Phone Spyware Scandal: Court Proceedings Begin Amidst Claims of Government Cover-Up

Tue Oct 21 2025 00:30:53 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

The ongoing phone spyware scandal in Greece escalates as court proceedings commence against alleged perpetrators, while critics assert that the government is concealing deeper truths.

Greece's evolving spyware scandal, likened to a modern 'Watergate,' has moved to court where two Israelis and two Greeks are facing charges over the marketing of the controversial Predator software. Despite government denials of involvement, critics decry the lack of accountability for high-ranking officials and suggest a systematic effort to obscure the truth about state surveillance on political figures and journalists.

It has become known as Greece's Watergate: spyware software and Greek intelligence targeted the mobile phones of government ministers, senior military officers, judges, and journalists.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called it a scandal, but no government officials have been charged in court and critics accuse the government of trying to cover up the truth.

Instead, a low-ranking judge will on Wednesday hear the case against two Israelis and two Greeks, allegedly involved with marketing spy software known as Predator.

In the summer of 2022, the current head of socialist party Pasok, Nikos Androulakis - then an MEP - was informed by the EU Parliament's IT experts that he had received a malicious text message from an unknown sender, containing spy software.

This Predator spyware, which is marketed by the Athens-based Israeli company Intellexa, can access a device's messages, camera, and microphone – turning a person's phone against them.

Things escalated after Androulakis also discovered that he had been tracked for national security reasons by Greece's National Intelligence Service (EYP).

Just a month after taking office in the summer of 2019, PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis had placed EYP directly under his supervision.

His conservative government was suddenly at the heart of the crisis. The head of EYP, Panagiotis Kontoleon, resigned, as did the prime minister's top aide and nephew, Grigoris Dimitriadis, who was the liaison between EYP and the PM's office.

Predator has been used in attempts to entrap at least 87 people, according to the Hellenic Data Protection Authority. Twenty-seven of those were simultaneously monitored by EYP, including serving ministers and senior military officers.

Despite claims of coincidence by the government, the shared targets implied a more coordinated strategy. The legality of Predator’s use was also called into question, especially as a new law to legalize its use under strict conditions was passed only later in 2022.

Details reveal that the secret services also spied on high-ranking officials, but the government has not explained these actions.

As the judicial hearings commence, further scrutiny on the government's involvement is prominent, particularly amid persistent allegations by international observers suggesting a systematic effort to obfuscate the truth behind the scandal.

Critics highlight potential complicity among high-ranking state officials given the complexity and scope of the surveillance efforts.