Probe clears Greek government agencies in spyware scandal but opposition calls it a cover-up

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — A two-year investigation in Greece has cleared the country’s security agencies of involvement in an international spyware scandal that triggered sanctions by the United States earlier this year, a senior prosecutor said Tuesday.

Supreme Court prosecutor Georgia Adilini said she found no evidence linking Greece’s National Intelligence Service, the police force or its anti-terrorism division to the use of Predator spyware, which opposition groups alleged was used against some government critics.

The spyware targeted dozens of prominent individuals in Greece including Nikos Androulakis, the current leader of a Socialist party, the third largest in parliament.

The investigation's findings drew an angry reaction from left-wing and center-left opposition parties in Greece which accused the ruling conservatives of engineering a cover-up.

Speaking in parliament, Androulakis called the investigation a “sham” and demanded that lawmakers be shown full conclusions of the probe, detailed in a 300-page report that has not been made public.

“It’s a shameful practice to sell this type of software to illiberal regimes, knowing that they are most likely to be used against human rights (activists), against political opponents, and endangering the lives of thousands of people in third world countries,” Androulakis said.

In March, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions against two individuals and companies based in Greece, Ireland, Hungary and North Macedonia, all connected to software developers called the Intellexa consortium.

The sanctions announcement said they were linked to the spyware that was being sold to authoritarian regimes around the world and being used to target U.S. citizens.

The government said its opponents had baselessly conflated the use of spyware with legally authorized wiretaps carried out by Greece’s National Intelligence Service.

“Your political narrative was not served by the facts. What should we do?,” Makis Voridis, a minister of state for the government, told parliament.

“While you were hurling slander, lies, and falsehoods at us – with nothing based on facts or the law – we were waiting for justice. And today, that day arrived.”

U.S. authorities say Predator spyware can infect electronic devices through so-called “zero-click attacks,” requiring no user interaction. Once infected, it enables secret data extraction, geolocation tracking, and access to applications and personal information.

Amnesty International’s Security Lab in October last year published a report that said that Predator had been used to target but not necessarily infect devices connected to the president of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, and the president of Taiwan, Tsai Ing-Wen, as well as Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, and Sen. John Hoeven, R-N.D.

The alleged use of Predator spyware in Greece helped precipitate the resignation in 2022 of two top government officials, including the national intelligence director.

Greek lawmakers in late 2022, passed legislation to ban the use, sale or distribution of the spyware, with violations carrying a penalty of a two-year minimum prison sentence.