PEGA com’t head: No outright evidence of Greek gov’t using spyware

The chairman of the European Parliament’s Committee of Inquiry to investigate the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware, known as PEGA, on Friday told reporters in Athens that there was no “outright evidence” of the use of illegal spyware by Greek authorities or officials, although he cautioned that a thorough investigation of complaints related to illegal surveillance is pending.

Committee chairman and Dutch MEP Jeroen Lenaers spoke after the conclusion of the committee’s meetings in Athens with Greek government officials and law enforcement, including with Minister of State Giorgos Gerapetritis.

The meetings by the PEGA committee members in Athens drew heightened media and political attention, in the wake of a controversy that erupted earlier in the year when it was revealed that Greece’s intelligence service had ordered the wiretapping of PASOK-KINAL party leader Nikos Androulakis – before he was elected to the party’s helm – and at least one investigative journalist. The head of the service (EYP) subsequently resigned, while PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis’ close aide and chief of staff Grigoris Dimitriadis also resigned.

Lenaers said the PEGA committee welcomed the Greek government’s initiative to enact new legislation regarding legal surveillance and introduce stricter judicial supervision, while citing the active cooperation by Greek authorities, unlike those of Poland or Hungary, with which he said there is no comparison in terms of rule of law or freedom of the press.

“We did not find outright evidence of corruption, or the kind of authoritarian practices we witnessed in Poland and that are reportedly happening in Hungary, but some more effort needs to be done to ensure transparency,” he said.

In a more reserved and critical statement, PEGA rapporteur Sophia In ‘T Veld said: “After staying in Cyprus and Greece almost four days, we leave with perhaps more questions than we had when we arrived. We’ve heard worrying reports of journalists feeling unsafe when they write about important topics, of the supposedly independent data protection authority being put under pressure, and of national security used as blanket justification for spyware abuse and surveillance.”