The new criminal investigations opening following the verdict of the Athens Single-Member Court of Misdemeanors in the wiretapping case involving illegal Predator spyware mark the expansion of the judicial aspect of the scandal to include other individuals beyond the four convicted defendants. The court adopted the prosecutor’s proposal to transmit copies of the proceedings and case files to investigate potential criminal responsibilities of both the already accused individuals and other persons who emerged during the trial proceedings. This decision essentially reopens the judicial investigation of the scandal regarding other aspects beyond the involvement of the four private individuals convicted by the Single-Member Court of Misdemeanors.
Among other developments, the court, adopting the corresponding prosecutorial proposal, brings the crime of espionage into the “frame” of the judicial investigation of the case.
According to the prosecutorial proposal, the extent and variety of the monitored individuals, the organized structure, technical training, and potential collaboration with foreign forces – specifically Israeli ones – provide sufficient evidence to investigate Article 148 of the Penal Code.
New investigations into the wiretapping case
Simultaneously, the court accepted the proposal to evaluate potential criminal responsibilities of individuals who allegedly had complete knowledge of the operation and extent of the surveillance activities. Among those mentioned were Intellexa executives such as Rotem Farkas, Meron Harpaz, Einat Semana, and from Krikel, Sotiris Dalas. Additionally, the investigation of Aimilios Kosmidis, also known as “the butcher,” through whose bank card the malicious SMS messages sent to Nikos Androulakis and other individuals were purchased, and Krikel executive Sotiris Dallas for false testimony was decided.
Furthermore, transmission was ordered for further investigation of what Stamatis Tribalis testified regarding the procedure in the Parliamentary Investigative Committee, aimed at investigating potential false testimony and moral authorship for Giannis Lavranos and Sotiris Dallas.
The new investigations come in the aftermath of the conviction decision for the four defendants in the case: Tal Dilian, Sara Hamou, Giannis Lavranos, and Felix Bitzios, who are connected to companies Intellexa and Krikel. The court found them guilty, at misdemeanor level, of interference with personal data archiving systems jointly and continuously and cumulatively, both completed and attempted, for violation of telephone communication and oral conversation confidentiality, also jointly and continuously and cumulatively, as well as illegal access to information systems or data.
Court president Nikolaos Askianakis adopted the prosecutorial proposal regarding the modification of the indictment for the first two acts, converting the legal characterization from continuous to cumulative crimes for 87 victims. As clarified, of the 116 initially mentioned, the truly cumulative crimes concern 87 individuals, while for the remainder, the characterization of continuous crime remains. The court rejected requests for recognition of mitigating circumstances – previous lawful conduct and good behavior after the act – adopting the opposing prosecutorial proposal. It imposed a total prison sentence of 126 years and 8 months, with 8 years to be served. Despite the prosecutor’s proposal for full serving, the court granted suspension of sentence execution until the case is heard at second instance.
The decision, announced in a packed courtroom, does not close the cycle of judicial investigation into the wiretapping case. On the contrary, by transmitting the proceedings, it opens a new, expanded stage of criminal control, emphasizing both the potential extension of responsibilities and the investigation of serious crimes that touch even the field of national security.
