An Athens court has ordered Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis’s former Secretary General, Grigoris Dimitriadis, to pay 7,000 euros in legal costs, after dismissing a defamation lawsuit the latter had filed against investigative journalist Thanasis Koukakis in relation to the Predator spyware scandal.
The lawsuit concerned posts by Koukakis on X and comments the reporter had made in media interviews regarding the spyware scandal. Dimitriadis had sought 350,000 euros in damages, arguing that the statements harmed his reputation, credibility and professional standing.
Court Ruling
The court found that Koukakis based his reporting and commentary on the evidence available at the time and that his conclusions stemmed from logical inference rather than unfounded speculation.
Among the statements examined were references identifying Dimitriadis as one of the key figures in the spyware scandal, as well as Koukakis’ reposting of a report alleging that 11 Predator-infected text messages had been sent to different targets using a phone number associated with Dimitriadis through a technique known as spoofing.
The court ruled that describing Dimitriadis, businessman Giannis Lavranos and Felix Bitzios as “key figures” in the wiretapping scandal did not amount to an excessive or baseless characterisation and remained within the acceptable limits of public criticism.
It also held that, as a public figure, Dimitriadis was required to tolerate a higher degree of journalistic scrutiny. The court further found that referring to the men as “godfathers of the wiretapping scandal” was satirical but justified, noting that Dimitriadis and Lavranos are in fact linked through the Greek relational tradition of koumbaria (godparenthood).
Broader Legal Battle
The ruling is the latest development in a series of lawsuits filed by Dimitriadis against Koukakis, who was both an investigative journalist and a target of the Predator spyware, as well as against other journalists and media organisations.
The court ruling:
