Greece’s highest administrative court has ordered the National Intelligence Service (EYP) to submit within three months the official file on the lifting of the confidentiality of the communications of investigative journalist Thanasis Koukakis.
The ruling, issued Monday, concerns a case brought by Koukakis seeking access to records related to the monitoring of his telephone communications by the intelligence service.
He turned to the court after the Hellenic Authority for Communication Security and Privacy (ADAE), the country’s communications privacy watchdog, said EYP had not provided the relevant surveillance documentation for review.
The court instructed EYP to submit the official file concerning the lifting of the confidentiality of the journalist’s communications, along with any related information. It added that if the documents have been destroyed, the agency must specify the legal basis for their destruction.
Judges said EYP had failed to provide reasons for the surveillance and had offered contradictory statements about whether records were preserved.
