Urgent letter to the Presidium of the PEGASUS Committee: ‘An investigative mission to Athens to investigate accusations of illegal surveillance should be organised immediately’

 

The PEGASUS Committee should also take up the issue of wiretapping and surveillance in Cyprus

8 August 2022

In an urgent letter sent today to the Chair of the PEGASUS Committee of Inquiry, AKEL MEP Giorgos Georgiou followed up on the extremely serious issue of illegal surveillances and eavesdropping in Greece and the subsequent resignations.

In his capacity as Vice-Chairman of the relevant Committee of the European Parliament Giorgos Georgiou requested that an investigative mission should be organised immediately to Athens to examine the situation. He also informed the Chair about the latest developments in Cyprus surrounding the issue of surveillance in the central prisons following the admission made by the Minister of Justice. Stressing that these new revelations and admissions that companies producing and exporting such software operate in Cyprus reveal a potentially huge problem for democracy and the rule of law in Cyprus, the AKEL MEP requested that the case be placed at the centre of the PEGASUS Committee’s work.

Below is the MEP’s letter in full:

“Dear President,

Dear Vice-Chairs,

It is with great regret that we have been informed of new worrying developments regarding the use of surveillance software in Greece. We are very concerned to learn of new developments of a very serious nature, which have led to the resignation of two high-ranking members of the Greek Government. The new case of an attempt to tap the mobile phone of the leader of the Socialist KINAL party and current MEP, with surveillance software is simply ‘unacceptable’ if confirmed. This latest revelation comes just months after the latest Rule of Law Report 2022 for Greece, which referred to the case of a journalist who was “allegedly monitored by the national intelligence service” and, moreover, targeted by surveillance software equivalent to Pegasus (Predator).

In addition, the multiple allegations of another party, the Communist Party of Greece (KKE), concerning the interception of the deliberations of its Central Committee in recent years are still pending.

Dear colleagues.

These are all very serious allegations that demand the carrying out of an immediate investigation. In this context, I would like to propose that we add an official mission to Greece to our work programme in order to investigate on the spot what exactly happened.

Furthermore, I would also like to draw your attention to the fact that a new scandal has broken out in Cyprus involving the Ministry of Justice who permitted the tapping of mobile phone activity in prisons instead of enhancing prison mobile phone jamming software.

According to press reports, at a meeting in February 2022, Justice Minister Stefi Drakou had given verbal instructions to the prisons department to upgrade and fully utilise the capabilities of the existing software, including automatically activating its surveillance/tapping system and recording a device’s unique code, sim card identity, the date and time of a call and its geographical coordinates.

A leaked letter, dated February 28, 2022, sent by the Ministry of Justice to the Department of Prisons reiterates the instructions in writing, reinforcing the idea that the department wants to upgrade the software to include surveillance capabilities instead of jamming.

It is my strong belief that these new revelations, combined with persistent evidence and even admissions that companies are operating in Cyprus that produce and export this kind of software, pose a potentially huge problem for democracy and the rule of law in Cyprus demanding from us that we put this case at the centre of our Committee’s work.

We look forward to discussing these issues at the next available opportunity with a view to addressing these threats to European democratic values and our individual rights.

I remain at your disposal for any further information you may need.

Thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Giorgos Georgiou

AKEL MEP”