The ruling New Democracy party is moving to prevent three key figures from testifying before parliament’s Institutions and Transparency Committee on the Predator spyware scandal, in a procedural maneuver opposition parties say amounts to another attempt to suppress the case.
The committee’s presidium, which is aligned with New Democracy and controls its majority, has bypassed the standard procedure of directly issuing summons to the three individuals. Instead, it has scheduled a session for Wednesday to hold a formal discussion and vote on the opposition’s requests. Given that the ruling party holds the majority on the committee, the vote is expected to result in rejection.
The three figures are Tal Dilian, the Israeli businessman behind Intellexa, the company that developed the Predator surveillance software; Grigoris Dimitriadis, former secretary general to the prime minister and nephew of Kyriakos Mitsotakis; and Yannis Smyrlis, former secretary general of the Foreign Ministry. The requests were submitted by opposition parties including PASOK, SYRIZA, the Communist Party of Greece and Plefsi Eleftherias.
Of the three, Dilian’s testimony would arguably carry the most political weight. In a series of public statements, he has pointed directly to the Greek government and the National Intelligence Service as partners in the deployment of Predator, insisting that Intellexa sells exclusively to governments and security agencies. His representatives say they hold contracts and emails documenting the relationship with the intelligence service. Dilian has said he is willing to appear before the committee.
Smyrlis presents a different but equally pointed question. The export licenses that allowed Predator to be sold to third countries were approved during his tenure at the Foreign Ministry, yet he has never been called to testify in any proceeding related to the scandal. When the case broke, Prime Minister Mitsotakis removed him from his ministry post; he subsequently returned to a senior position within New Democracy, facing no further consequences.
Dimitriadis, the prime minister’s nephew, had served as secretary general to the prime minister before the scandal forced his departure. He resurfaced recently in an interview with Real News, in which he said he had accepted political responsibility for the wiretapping scandal.
The expected blocking of these testimonies comes as the scandal shows signs of broadening. Former Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has filed a formal request with the Supreme Court over his own surveillance, adding a significant new dimension to a case the government has long sought to frame as the work of four private individuals acting alone. That characterization rested on a report by then-deputy Supreme Court prosecutor Achilleas Zisis, whose conclusions have since been called into question by subsequent court proceedings.
Source: in.gr
