The defendants in the case of the high-profile phone tapping scandal in Greece were found guilty today. The court sentenced them to a combined sentence of 126 years and eight months in prison, of which eight years must be served.
The lawsuit relates to the sanctioned software company Intellexa, which was found guilty on Thursday of breaching the confidentiality of telephone communications in a scandal uncovered in 2022.
In this case, politicians, journalists, business leaders and high-ranking Greek soldiers were intercepted.
The defendants – two Israeli nationals and two Greeks – were founders and executives of the company Intellexa, which marketed the Predator spyware in Greece.
This program gives hackers access to messages, photos and the ability to remotely activate the microphone and camera of the infected device.
Although the defendants denied any wrongdoing, the court found them guilty of several charges related to illegal access to private communication systems and data, as well as violations of data protection and privacy laws.
For the four accused, the court imposed a combined sentence of 126 years and eight months in prison, eight years of which must be served. The decision is expected to be appealed.
The wiretapping scandal in Greece first came to light in 2022, when Nikos Androulakis – now head of the main opposition party PASOK – revealed that his smartphone had been infected after receiving a message while he was an MEP, and that it had been monitored by the Greek intelligence agency EYP.
It was later revealed that the phones of dozens of high-profile individuals had been targeted. The head of the intelligence agency as well as an assistant to Prime Minister Kiriakos Mitsotakis resigned from this scandal.
