The Supreme Court has decided to shelve the case against the National Intelligence Service (NIS), as the investigation by the Supreme Court of Greece found no evidence that the service illegally used malware on phones for the purpose of cyberespionage (spyware), as the Athens News Agency reported on Tuesday.
The case stemmed from allegations in 2022 by an opposition party leader and a journalist who said they were being monitored by the state through malware. Journalist Thanasis Koukakis, who according to court documents had been placed under surveillance by the EYP, said his phone had been infected with the Predator spyware, which was developed by Cytrox, a surveillance company owned by the Intellexa consortium based in Greece.
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Later, traces of Predator were found on dozens of phones, including those of politicians, journalists and businessmen, according to the Independent Telecommunications Privacy Authority .
"There was no involvement on the part of state agencies, including the National Intelligence Service (NIS), or any government official with the Predator spyware or similar software," the prosecutor said, concluding the preliminary investigation into the case, according to the Athens News Agency.
The 2022 allegations, amid growing concern in the European Union about the use of spyware, highlighted issues concerning the protection of private communications in Greece and led to the resignations of the then head of the EYP, Panagiotis Kontoleon, and the prime minister's general secretary.
According to court documents seen by Reuters, Panagiotis Kontoleon, head of the EYP from 2019 to 2022, denied allegations that the agency used such malware when he testified in May as a witness in the case.
The prosecutor said a court should examine the validity of the charges against legal representatives of private companies that handled Predator and were involved in the case.
Intellexa founder Tal Dilian, who testified in July, has denied any involvement in the case.
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Some of the EYP's targets during that period were the same people whose phones had been infected by Predator, according to an expert report included in court documents.
Source: Reuters
