Greek Supreme Court prosecutor archives Predator wiretapping case for third time despite new evidence and conviction

Third archiving of the wiretapping case

Greece's Prosecutor of the Areios Pagos (Supreme Court), Evangelos Bakelas, rejected all four requests to reopen the investigation into the country's Predator spyware scandal, keeping the case file archived for the third consecutive time. The decision, issued through separate acts on 7 August 2026, found that no new substantial evidence had been submitted to justify reopening the investigation. The four requests had been filed by former prime minister Antonis Samaras, former minister Christos Spirtzis, journalist Thanasis Koukakis, and lawyer Zacharias Kesses, who represents victims of the surveillance and had submitted judicial material from Israel regarding Tal Dilian.

The February conviction and new evidence

In February 2026, the Single-Member Misdemeanor Court of Athens convicted four defendants in the Predator case: Tal Dilian, Felix Bitziou, Yiannis Lavranos, and Sara Alexandra Chamou. The court imposed total sentences of 126 years and eight months, with eight years to be served, and ordered the transmission of court proceedings to investigate potential responsibilities of other persons. Dilian has repeatedly stated publicly that his company Intellexa cooperated only with government agencies and that documents exist proving the company sold the illegal surveillance software to Greek security services. Despite these developments, Bakelas ruled that the findings of the trial were not sufficient to justify reopening the case file, and that for legal reasons, involved persons such as Dilian cannot be examined as witnesses.

Reactions from the legal representative

Lawyer Zacharias Kesses, representing victims of the surveillance, launched a fierce attack on the decision, accusing the prosecutor of deliberate concealment.

“He does not conduct any investigation of the case, he has not called any witness, he has not examined any mobile phone, he has not requested the documents through judicial cooperation from Israel which were submitted by Mr. Dilian with which he claims that he demonstrably supplied the Greek state. You understand that here the choice is concealment.”

Kesses also stated that Bakelas had "long since proven that he is part of the problem" and had chosen to serve a "relay of concealment" in the wiretapping case, accusing him of constructing legal arguments that function as procedural barriers to the revelation of the truth.

Political backlash

The decision triggered strong reactions from opposition parties. SYRIZA accused the government of Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis of attempting to bury the scandal, stating that the case originated from the Maximos Mansion, the prime minister's office. The party questioned who gave the orders, what the unified surveillance center was, and what the relationship between Predator and the National Intelligence Service (EYP) was.

“They have no shame. But democracy does not get archived.”

The ELAS party, led by Alexis Tsipras, spoke of a "blatant osmosis between the government and the judiciary" that exposes Greece internationally regarding the rule of law. PASOK-Kinema Allagis also issued a statement criticizing the decision.

The scope of surveillance

The articles note that those surveilled included ministers, senior military officers, judges handling critical cases, and state service officials. The communications of these individuals frequently contained classified information concerning the functioning of the state, foreign policy, and defense planning. The original investigation was conducted by deputy prosecutor Achilleas Zisis approximately two years ago, resulting in criminal prosecution of only four private individuals for misdemeanor acts, with no findings linking EYP or state officials to the illegal software.