Androulakis recounted in detail how he discovered he had been targeted.

‘I was an MEP and a candidate for PASOK president. In June 2022, I told a close associate that I was about to resign from the European Parliament. He suggested I have my phone checked by a European Parliament service for illegal software. Soon after, I was informed that my phone had been infected by the Predator spyware. Ten days later, I received the official confirmation and went to the Supreme Court Prosecutor’s Office to file a complaint,’ he said, according to To Vima.

He explained that, after learning about the suspicious messages, he searched his phone:
‘I saw that messages had arrived in September 2022 and were mixed in with dozens of campaign messages. One of the suspicious messages had been opened, but I hadn’t clicked on the link. They were bait messages linked to my campaign.’

A dialogue followed in court:

President: Was this attempt related to your position as an MEP, or to your domestic political activity?
Androulakis: Investigations in the European Parliament into corruption took place two years earlier. At first, I didn’t know what to think. But when the resignations of Mr Dimitriadis and others occurred, I understood there was a domestic factor. When I learnt the dates that the National Intelligence Service (EYP) had monitored my phone, I realised this happened after three failed Predator attempts. EYP’s surveillance began and ended a few days after my election. It had nothing to do with the European Parliament.
President: Did any of your colleagues experience something similar?
Androulakis: After my case, the European Parliament service checked other members of the Socialists and Democrats group, nothing was found.

‘Who is defending Greek democracy? I had an attempt and I’m here! Chiefs of the armed forces, who normally had Predators, are not even here!’ he exclaimed, criticising other victims of surveillance who have not appealed to the European Court of Human Rights.

He added: ‘I was told that Predator is used when they want to extract more data than conventional surveillance allows. Because they failed, they resorted to EYP’s conventional wiretapping.’

‘I believe a well-organised parastate was operating in the country. We have reached this point, now justice must decide, not the government,’ he continued, noting that ‘the defendants were selling services to specific political figures.’

Prosecutor: Was the access to your phone aimed at blackmailing you or at misleading your party’s strategy?
Androulakis: Perhaps both. When they open a phone, everything is there. Maybe they saw my conversations with Kostas Simitis and George Papandreou. Through me, they were also monitoring former prime ministers.
Prosecutor: Do you believe the defendants gained personally?
Androulakis: Certainly, financially.

Asked about the surveillance of Deputy Prime Minister Kostis Hatzidakis and the fact that he has not taken legal action, as well as the case of Tina Messaropoulou, wife of MP Giorgos Mylonakis, Androulakis replied: ‘When half the government is under surveillance, the heads of the armed forces too and the prime minister shows no concern about who is spying on them, what more can I say?’

The trial, which opened on Wednesday 22 October at the Single-Member Misdemeanour Court of Athens, concerns violations of communications confidentiality. The defendants are Yiannis Lavranos, alleged beneficial owner of the company Krikel, and Felix Bitzios, Tal Dilian and Sarah Hamou, owners of Intellexa, the company accused of manufacturing and managing the Predator spyware.

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