Greece's Phone Spyware Scandal Heads to Court Amid Cover-Up Allegations

Mon Oct 20 2025 09:00:08 GMT+0300 (Eastern European Summer Time)

The ongoing phone spyware controversy in Greece dubbed as the nation's Watergate sees its first court hearings. As critics point fingers at the government for a potential cover-up, two Israelis and two Greeks are implicated in the sale of invasive spy software.

The phone spyware scandal in Greece, which involves the targeting of prominent figures including government ministers and journalists, is set for court proceedings. Although Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has acknowledged the issue, accusations of governmental cover-up loom large as the prosecution focuses on four individuals rather than directly implicating higher officials. The controversy stems from the use of Predator spyware by the country’s intelligence agency, igniting debates over privacy and power misuse.

It has become known as Greece's Watergate: spyware software and Greek intelligence targeted the mobile phones of government ministers, senior military officers, judges, and journalists.

Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis has called it a scandal, but no government officials have been charged in court and critics accuse the government of trying to cover up the truth.

Instead, a low-ranking judge will on Wednesday hear the case against two Israelis and two Greeks, allegedly involved with marketing spy software known as Predator.

In the summer of 2022, the current head of the socialist party Pasok, Nikos Androulakis - then an MEP - was informed by the EU Parliament's IT experts that he had received a malicious text message from an unknown sender containing spy software.

This Predator spyware, marketed by Athens-based Israeli company Intellexa, can gain access to a device's messages, camera, and microphone – effectively turning a person's phone against them.

Things escalated after Androulakis discovered that he had been tracked for 'national security reasons' by Greece's National Intelligence Service (EYP).

Just a month after taking office in the summer of 2019, PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis placed EYP directly under his supervision, thrusting his conservative government into the center of a crisis. As explosive revelations emerged, the head of EYP resigned as well as the prime minister's aide who was the liaison between EYP and his office.

Predator had been reportedly used to surveil at least 87 individuals, including serving ministers and military officers, raising grave concerns over the commonality of surveillance tactics between EYP and the spyware.

Despite ongoing inquiries, the government maintains that any overlap in targets between EYP and Predator is purely coincidental, with no law enforcement agency having legally utilized Predator at that time - a claim questioned by many including human rights advocates.

The scandal, which has drawn scrutiny both locally and internationally, highlights the precarious balance of power and accountability within Greek politics. As accusations of government complicity grow, the case remains a litmus test for democratic norms in the nation.