Reporters United have accused pro-government media outlets of breaking the journalists' strike and spreading false claims about a court ruling in the second lawsuit filed by Grigoris Dimitriadis, nephew of the Greek PM, Kyriakos Mitsotakis. Dimitriadis had sued Reporters United over their reporting on the scandal surrounding the use of Predator spyware by the Greek government to surveil Greek citizens. As the former General Secretary in the PM's office, Dimitriadis was responsible for overseeing the National Intelligence Service.

According to Reporters United:

“The decision of the Multi Member Court of First Instance of Athens regarding Dimitriadis’ second lawsuit (against Efimerida ton Syntakton and Reporters United journalists) has been published. The decision supports our investigation, just like the one in October 2024, which rejected the first lawsuit by the PM’s nephew.”

Grigoris Dimitriadis, General Secretary in the Prime Minister’s office, had filed a Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation (SLAPP) against Efimerida ton Syntakton and Reporters United, demanding astronomical amounts from journalists and media outlets over an investigation linking him to the wiretapping scandal and the Predator spyware. In October, the court dismissed all of Dimitriadis’ claims, confirming that the investigative article was neither false, defamatory, nor libellous.

On 8 April, 2025, Reporters United reported that pro-government media outlets broke the journalists’ strike and falsely claimed that the ruling in the second lawsuit supported Dimitriadis’ position. Media outlets like Proto Thema and Real News published identical articles making this claim. Reporters United also pointed out that, on the same day, Dimitriadis posted on social media (without mentioning Reporters United), stating, “When you spread fake news, the bill always comes at the end.” However, Reporters United insists the situation is entirely different.

Reporters United emphasise that the court’s decision fully rejected Dimitriadis’ second lawsuit concerning the revelation of how his phone number was used to target 11 individuals with Predator spyware. These included the head of the Greek Police and the prosecutor of the Greek National Intelligence Service.

The decision notes that the journalists in question clearly explained, “repeatedly,” how 11 messages were sent from Dimitriadis’ phone number, ensuring there was no doubt left for the readers. The investigation explicitly referenced the findings of the Data Protection Authority’s report on the wiretapping scandal.

The court dismissed the lawsuit against Reporters United journalists (Nikolaos Leontopoulos, Thodoris Chondrogiannos, Christoforos Kasdaglis) and Efimerida ton Syntakton reporter Dimitris Terzis, ordering Dimitriadis to pay legal costs of €4,750. The court found no issues with any of the thousands of words in Reporters United and Efimerida ton Syntakton‘s investigative reports about Dimitriadis and the wiretaps. It did, however, rule that one headline from Efimerida ton Syntakton in one of the contested articles (“Grigoris Dimitriadis’ new legal action against the wiretapping investigation”) amounted to simple defamation.

Importantly, the court found no issues with the international Predator Files investigation, which Reporters United, along with prestigious media outlets like Mediapart and DER SPIEGEL, used to document how the PM’s nephew’s phone number was used to send Predator spyware to surveillance targets.

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