Athens, Greece. An Athens court found Israeli entrepreneur Tal Dilian and three others guilty of misdemeanours related to illegal surveillance connected to the Predator spyware scandal in Greece.
Court verdict and sentences
The four people who marketed the surveillance software were found guilty of violating the confidentiality of telephone communications and illegally accessing personal data and conversations. The court handed the four lengthy jail sentences, suspended pending appeal.
Although they each face 126 years, only eight would typically be served, which is the upper limit for misdemeanours.
Predator scandal and targets
In a scandal that shook Greece in 2022, surveillance software called Predator was used to target 87 people, including government ministers, senior military officials and journalists.
Origin of the case
The case dates back to the summer of 2022, when the current head of Greek Socialist party Pasok, Nikos Androulakis, then an MEP, was informed by the European Parliament’s IT experts that he had received a malicious text message containing a link.
About Predator and legal status in Greece
Predator spyware, marketed by the Athens-based Israeli company Intellexa, can get access to a device’s messages, camera, and microphone. Its use was illegal in Greece at that time, but a new law passed in 2022 has since legalised state security use of surveillance software under strict conditions.
Earlier Cyprus ‘spy van’ case
Dilian was cleared of all charges relating to the ‘spy van’ case in Larnaca after, in November 2021, the attorney-general’s office stayed the prosecution against him and two other defendants.
Charges were not dropped against a fourth defendant, Ws WiSpear Systems Limited. The company later pleaded guilty to multiple counts of personal data violations and was fined €76,000.
Cyprus investigation
Cypriot police launched an investigation in November 2019 after Dilian, CEO of the company and an ex-intelligence officer, gave an interview to Forbes magazine advertising services that included covert surveillance and eavesdropping.
How do you think Greece’s updated surveillance law should be enforced under strict conditions?
