Statement by Aristos Damianou, Head of the Justice Sector of AKEL and MP, on the issue of surveillance/wiretapping

 

17 July 2023, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

The facts are there for all to see and speak for themselves. A black spy van was roaming the streets of Cyprus. Following a criminal investigation, an illegal installation of three bugging antennas at Larnaca Airport was discovered, with over 9.5 million illegal invasions of privacy and communication. In the Republic of Cyprus the production and export of dual-use and malicious spyware software exists, with proven political entanglement/interwoven interests, public opinion being kept in the dark and non-transparency in making findings known to the public and, unfortunately, a cover-up of illegal surveillance activities by the government ruling forces.

For months the former government ruling forces lied, until both we, through an ex-officio debate in the House of Representatives and the European Parliament’s PEGA special committee of inquiry, forced them to admit some truths. That – in fact – a hotbed of companies producing and exporting malicious spyware does exist in Cyprus – among others Predator and Pegasus. Of course, there has never been an official admission and assumption of political responsibility by any competent Ministers.

As a result, that is, based on what was submitted within the context of the examination of the issue in the Parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee, it can be said with certainty that everything that we had denounced in public, everything that we had submitted in the form of questions to guests – within the context of exercising parliamentary scrutiny – has been confirmed.

To be more specific: that the former Israeli agents were entangled at a business level with the Police Force was eventually confirmed by the admission of the current Chief of Police. While they were being investigated for criminal offences, at the same time they were doing business with them. We were forced to produce invoices to force the current leadership of the Police Force to retract their initial statements where they were claiming ignorance. This is a glaring example of institutional entanglement/interwoven interests and corruption by the then leadership of the Police Force.

The evidence submitted to the Legal Affairs Committee that DISY’s mediation to the Ministry of Commerce for the sale of dual-use software by Dilian’s companies in the Netherlands was confirmed.

The production, use and distribution within Cyprus and the transport and export of illegal software to Greece and other countries was also confirmed. Let me remind you that the then President of the Republic called AKEL’s allegations a figment of imagination. There were admissions made from both Ministries and Departments in Parliament about this.

In short, the fact that Cyprus was transformed into a hotbed for the production of dual-use software, spyware, was and is the result of institutional and political entanglement/interwoven interests between the then Presidency and the then ruling DISY party, and perhaps other circles too.

Representatives of the media,

AKEL’s disagreement regarding the handling of the black spy van is well known. I wish that other parties would act accordingly because this is a matter concerning public order and security, human rights and the rule of law. We strongly believe that the Legal Service was instrumentalised in this particular case. Non-legal rationales prevailed and extrajudicial facts and circumstances were taken into account. Moreover, it is an admitted fact that in this particular case there was a kind of settlement made, a plead bargain.

There was an admission by Dilian’s Company and a conviction with a fine and at the same time there was a stay of prosecution, nolle prosequi, of the former Israeli agent.

You realise that invoking reasons of public interest in a general and vague manner is inadequate. All the more so when the Legal Service, the Ministry of Justice refuses to make the relevant finding [of the investigation] public. And at this point we have to say that even after the report of PEGA, the European Parliament, which calls on the Republic of Cyprus to make the finding public, the Legal Service replied to our question that it will not make the findings public.

I consider that if there was more transparency and public accountability, society wouldn’t have charged them with a lack of objective impartiality on this matter. The Police and other agencies have been exposed with this case too.

As has already been said, the involvement of the then ruling party DISY with private interests and illegal activities of companies is on record. In our original statement to the Legal Affairs Committee, we said that there were so many coincidences that at some point they cease being coincidences and become nuanced evidence, bordering on a cover-up and entanglement.

It is therefore obvious that political cover was provided slyly turning a blind eye to the activity of these and other people involved in the production of dual-use software.

We should also note that, in addition to the Central Intelligence Agency (KYP), which by duty has technological capabilities at its disposal, in an unrelated time the Police secretly purchased related electronic communications recording and extraction technology, possibly in a manner that is being scrutinized for its legal basis.

Unfortunately, we have a long way to go as a state to become a state truly governed by the rule of law. After all, not that we needed the European Commission’s Report on the Rule of Law in Cyprus to tell us the obvious, which exposes Cyprus internationally, but the institutional protection of human rights and freedoms, the integrity of institutions, transparency and public accountability, to a large extent and despite the steps taken, remain deficient.

Inevitably, the rule of law has suffered a severe blow from illegal surveillance and wiretapping, from illegal exports, from the instrumentalisation of state structures and institutions to the point of a cover-up and institutional entanglement/interwoven interests.

Citizen’s privacy, the right to a personal life and communication is guaranteed by the Constitution and the ECHR. Illegal surveillance and interceptions are characteristic of undemocratic regimes, they damage the rule of law and the quality of our democracies both in Cyprus as well as in Greece, but also across the EU in general.

AKEL will not let this case be closed, as is the norm in this country. Our intention is that, apart from the preparation of a report by the Parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee and a debate on the issue in the Plenary of the House, the material we have collected will be handed over to the Anti-Corruption Authority for appropriate action.

It is obvious that there are political, administrative, disciplinary and possibly criminal responsibilities that must be investigated to the end and responsibilities attributed.

The tolerance and complicity in the production, dissemination, use, transfer and export of malicious software, apart from provoking massive human rights violations in Cyprus, has contaminated Greece and exposed the Republic of Cyprus once again internationally. It is no coincidence that, despite the alteration of the original findings, as a result of political pressure that was exerted, the European Parliament’s report, as will be analysed by my colleague Giorgos Georgiou, remains damning.