DREAM / The Prime Minister resigns and wakes up under the Parisian bridge!

 Kliko këtu për të tjera
Voxpress:

The scandal of wiretapping and journalists, "The Guardian": Will Mitsotakis' government fall?

2022-08-08 15:52:19Kosova&Bota SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
The scandal of wiretapping and journalists, "The Guardian": Will
Kyriakos Mitsotakis

With extremely harsh words, the prestigious British "The Guardian" refers to the case of monitoring the telephone conversations of the president of PASOK, Nikos Androulakis, in an answer signed by Helena Smith, an old and experienced colleague of the newspaper.

The wiretapping scandal in question has shaken the world of politics in Greece for the last week, with Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis having to give explanations and pave the way for the establishment of an investigative commission.

The British media has considered the new scandal as the Greek "Watergate" and continued with comments such as "the case refers to the darkest moments of the military junta".

Even with the assessment that this scandal will have political implications and that it is "the most difficult moment for the Greek government", the "Guardian" clarifies that the scene of a political scandal of a high caliber is taking place in Athens.

The article recalls that on July 26, Panagiotis Kontoleon, the "chief of espionage" as the British newspaper calls him, admitted before the competent committee of the Assembly that the EYP was monitoring the journalist Thanasis Koukakis using the "Predator" monitoring system.

"The Guardian" article:

A wiretapping scandal, which led to the resignation of the EYP commander and chief secretary to the Prime Minister within minutes, is expected to lead to further resignations amid revelations of "dark practices" and a spying crisis reminiscent of Watergate. .

Kyriakos Mitsotakis is facing his most difficult period as prime minister after it was revealed that the mobile phone of his political opponent, the head of Greece's third-largest party, was under surveillance at the behest of EYP, the intelligence service that reports to the office of his.

"I never expected that the Greek government would spy on me using the darkest practices," PASOK leader Nikos Androulakis - who is also a member of the European Parliament - said in a televised speech late on Friday, when known extent of the scandal.

"It is our democratic duty to protect the human rights and freedoms of Greek citizens. Today is a moment of truth for those whose arrogance and sense of impunity make them capable of anything," he added.

The Prime Minister's Office, a few hours ago, had revealed the resignation of the former head of the Greek National Police, Panagiotis Kontoleon, for "wrong actions".

The news followed the shock announcement that Mitsotakis' nephew and most trusted aide, Grigoris Dimitriadis, had also resigned, sacrificing his position in the hope of ending the scandal. Demetriades, a person who wielded vast powers behind the scenes, was Condoleon's head in Maximus.

But by Sunday, with Mitsotakis saying the wiretapping was a "huge and unforgivable mistake", those resignations were interpreted as an admission of guilt. Likening the spying scandal to a Greek "Watergate" that "brutally insults our democracy", former left-wing prime minister Alexis Tsipras vowed that nothing would be left in the dark.

According to him, it was the duty of the centre-right government not only to provide an explanation for Androulakis, whose phone was monitored for three months before his election as PASOK leader last September, but also for everyone else suspected that they were targeted.

"Instead of hypocritical apologies and lies, Mr. Mitsotakis should say which other politicians and journalists were being monitored. This is not a big and unforgivable mistake. It's a huge scandal that represents the unforgivable arrogance of a regime, a prime minister who thought no one could control him," said the head of the main opposition party, SYRIZA.

The scandal, which recalls the darkest moments of the military junta, when opponents of the colonels' 1967-74 regime were regularly monitored, first broke when Androulakis revealed he had been tipped off by the European Parliament about an attempt to hack his phone mobile via "Predator" software.

The MEP made the revelation after becoming aware of it thanks to a cybersecurity service set up by the Strasbourg-based parliament for lawmakers to ensure their phones are not illegally monitored. Among the most sophisticated spyware available, Predator is able to access encrypted messages and activate cameras and microphones on mobile devices.

Last week, Androulakis filed a lawsuit with the Supreme Court Prosecutor's Office detailing the wiretapping attempt. Two Greek journalists, one covering immigration and the other finance, have also taken legal action following allegations of similar illegal wiretapping by a government widely criticized internationally for censorship.

On July 29, Kontoleoni, the chief spy, admitted at a closed-door parliamentary committee hearing that Greek intelligence had surveilled Thanasis Koukakis, the financial reporter, at the behest of a foreign intelligence agency, according to lawmakers who were present.

Initially, government sources denied that the Predator disclosures played a role in the wave of resignations. But then, however, sources reported that Androulakis' cell phone was indeed being monitored at the request of foreign intelligence services and with the permission of the prosecutor, but while it was legal and carried out with conventional software, the prime minister did not know, otherwise "he would not had allowed it".

Greek media over the weekend identified the reported foreign spy agencies as Ukrainian and Armenian, with some media attributing the request to monitor the PASOK leader to his dealings with "suspicious persons acting on behalf of Chinese interests".

That line of defense was immediately dismissed as an elaborate web of lies by a government embroiled in its biggest crisis since taking power in July 2019.

On Friday, Androulakis asked the Greek parliament to set up an investigative committee to look into the possible responsibilities of politicians. Mitsotakis, who in a controversial move placed the EYP under Maximo's control in one of his first acts in office, has said he will address the nation publicly on Monday.

"I owe Nikos Androulakis an apology," Mitsotakis is said to have told his closest people.

Mitsotakis, a Harvard graduate who is seen by some as breathing life into Greece after years of crippling economic turmoil, has won praise for his reform agenda and a management style more aligned with the US than the Mediterranean. . Since taking office, he seems to relish the challenge of multiple crises.

But Mitsotakis, who faces elections next year under a new electoral law that will make it almost impossible for his New Democracy party to form a government even if he is expected to win, has also faced criticism. increasingly harsh on his governing style, which leaves little room for criticism.

"Absolute power corrupts," said MEP Giorgos Kyrtsos, who was expelled from New Democracy for outspoken criticism of the government and anti-media behavior earlier this year.

“Mitsotakis rules through Maximos, not the cabinet, in a system in which there are few checks and balances. His desire to control is out of control. This spying scandal is a very big crisis and will raise further questions about the true extent of his liberal European credentials," he added.


Në përputhje me standarded JTI

Video

SHIKO KANALIN NE YOUTUBE
×