Espionage scandal ‘Predatorgate’ in Greece continues to expand

The espionage scandal that has gripped Greece for months continues to grow. Four investigative journalists whose work contributed to the revelation of the scandal are themselves tracked by the Secret Service. That revealed the investigative journalist Anastasios Telloglou, who is part of the journalist collective Inside Story. According to Telloglou, the intelligence agency used cell towers to track the movements of him and his colleagues via their cell phones and find out who their sources are.

In the wiretapping scandal, known as ‘Predatorgate’, several journalists and opposition politicians have been spied on by the secret service in the classic way. In addition, it appeared that an attempt had also been made to hack into their mobile phones using the advanced surveillance technology Predator.

The scandal led to the departure of the intelligence director and prime adviser to Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis in August. The prime minister himself is also under fire for placing the intelligence service under his direct control after his election in 2019.

Now Telloglou reveals that he was tracked repeatedly in May as he was en route to meet sources for his Predator investigation. He was also photographed in a cafe in Athens where he met his colleague Thanasis Koukakis, a previous target of Predator. In June, a source within the Greek secret service told Telloglou that he and his colleagues had been “linked” to dozens of their sources based on cell towers.

Harassment

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The surveillance is intended as intimidation, according to Telloglou. “How can you try to meet and talk to people when you know you are not alone,” he writes in an article for the Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung, a German foundation affiliated with the Greens. “We are deeply alarmed by the alleged physical surveillance of Telloglou,” writes the human rights organization Reporters Without Borders in a comment on Twitter.

Telloglou’s unveiling comes at a sensitive time. Next week, a committee of the European Parliament will visit Greece as part of an investigation into spyware. The committee was formed after scandals about the use of spyware broke out in several European countries in recent years. The committee must map the misuse of spyware in Europe and make suggestions for regulations regarding its sale and use.