Four executives linked to spyware company Intellexa have been found guilty and sentenced to prison in a scandal that erupted in Greece in 2022 connected with the spyware tool known as Predator.
The four people, including Tal Dilian, founder of the company and a former Israeli intelligence official, were found guilty of offences related to the use of Predator, including illegal access to an information system or data, and violating the confidentiality of telephone communications.
Spyware
The four were all handed long sentences of 126 years, but only eight would be served as this is the limit for their misdemeanour charges.
The sentences have been suspended pending appeals.
The Predator software could be deployed to take control of a smartphone’s messages, camera and microphone, and was illegal in 2022, although its use has since been legalised under strict conditions.
The judge in the Athens court said the defendants appeared to have acted with the participation of unknown third parties, which could include officials from Greek and foreign intelligence services, and as such the trial records would be sent to Athens Prosecutor’s Office for a possible investigation of felonies, including the offence of espionage.
The scandal emerged in the summer of 2022 when it became known that the Predator spyware had been used to target 87 people, including government ministers, senior military officials and journalists.
Illicit surveillance
About one-third of those surveilled were also under legal surveillance by Greece’s intelligence services, or EYP, leading to speculation that the EYP had deployed Predator under the direct supervision of prime minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
However, no government officials have been charged, and critics accuse the government of staging a cover-up.
Zacharias Kesses, a lawyer for victims in the affair, said: “After today’s decision, justice must, without distraction, investigate the involvement of third parties in felony offenses.”