Prosecutors have declined four requests to reopen the investigation into the country’s wiretapping scandal, leaving the case file closed despite the recent conviction of four private individuals for the use of Predator surveillance software.
Supreme Court Prosecutor Evangelos Bakelas reviewed requests submitted by former prime minister Antonis Samaras, former minister Christos Spirtzis and lawyer Zacharias Kesses, who represents surveillance victims.
In four separate rulings, Bakelas concluded that the legal requirements for reopening the case had not been met because no new evidence was presented beyond material already examined in previous investigations.
In Samaras’ case, Bakelas found that no new information had been submitted beyond evidence previously reviewed by former senior prosecutors. A similar conclusion was reached regarding Spirtzis’ request, which included emails from his mobile phone, among them one marked “confidential.”
Prosecutors said the material added no new facts beyond those examined during the lengthy trial of the four convicted individuals, which resulted in combined prison sentences totaling 126 years.
