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Greece’s prime minister on Monday said reports he had wiretapped his own ministers were “an incredible lie” as the main opposition party threatened to table a motion of no confidence over the snowball scandal.
The conservative government of Kyriakos Mitsotakis came under increasing pressure after a bombastic media report over the weekend claimed that more than 30 politicians, journalists and businessmen had been the target of state surveillance.
The Supreme Court has ordered an investigation, while Syriza, the far-left party of former Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, has urged the government to clear up the affair before the next election in 2023.
Mitsotakis hit back on Monday, calling the report by the left-wing weekly Documento, which is close to Syriza, “shameful”.
“We have a publication that reveals a number of people who are allegedly being monitored without the slightest evidence that this actually happened,” he told private broadcaster Antena1.
“I never said there was no surveillance. It is another matter to accuse the Prime Minister of orchestrating this action,” he added, calling the allegations “shameful” and “unacceptable”.
Documento reported on Saturday that the mobile phones of 33 high-profile public figures were illegally attacked by spyware called Predator and technology from the state intelligence agency EYP.
The list of reported targets includes former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, several serving cabinet ministers and shipowner Vangelis Marinakis, owner of Olympiakos and Nottingham Forest football clubs.
Influential members of Mitsotakis’ conservative New Democracy party, who are potential rivals in any future leadership contest, were also allegedly wiretapped.
– ‘All options on the table’ –
Syriza said it was considering filing a motion of no confidence.
“All options are now on the table. We will use them when the time is right,” Syriza said.
The spokesman for the government, which has a comfortable majority in parliament, said there was “no evidence” to support Documento’s revelations.
The scandal erupted in July when Nikos Androulakis – a MEP and leader of the Socialist Party (PASOK) – filed a complaint about alleged attempts to tap his mobile phone with Predator spyware.
Within days, it emerged that Androulakis was under separate surveillance by the national spy agency before becoming leader of PASOK, the country’s third-largest political party.
Two journalists and another high-ranking opposition politician also claim to have been spied on.
The scandal forced the resignation of the intelligence chief and a close aide and nephew of the prime minister in August.
The government has flatly denied the use of illegal surveillance software. But it has admitted that state intelligence monitored Androulakis without saying why.
Mitsotakis has pledged to introduce legislation banning the sale of malicious spyware.
But critics note that one of his first acts when he became prime minister in 2019 was to attach national intelligence to his personal office.
On Friday, a European Parliament committee investigating wiretapping in Greece and other EU countries called for a more thorough investigation.
His preliminary report is expected on Tuesday.
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