Main opposition PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis said Wednesday he was considering legal action to force Greece’s spy chief to divulge information on why he was targeted in a phone surveillance scandal together with dozens of politicians, journalists, businesspeople, military and other officials.
National Intelligence Service head Themistoklis Demiris appeared Wednesday before a session of Parliament’s transparency committee to testify on the spyware scandal following a request by opposition parties. The meeting was held behind closed doors due to national security concerns.
The scandal broke in 2022, following allegations by Androulakis – who at the time was a Socialist European Parliament lawmaker – that there had been an attempted hacking of his phone. Two journalists also said their phones had been targeted with the Predator malware.
The government denied wrongdoing, but dismissed the NIS head and the prime minister’s chief of staff.
According to PASOK sources, Androulakis berated current NIS head Demiris in Parliament Wednesday for refusing to disclose why his phone was targeted with spyware to allow its surveillance, despite a supreme administrative court ruling that surveillance subjects should be briefed on why they were being monitored.
