Greece’s Predator Spyware Trial Opens, Leaving Key Players and Evidence in the Shadows

11:08 9/4/2025 - Πηγή: Dikaiologitika

A trial tied to Greece’s sprawling wiretapping scandal opens Thursday, April 10, in an Athens misdemeanor court—but many see it as little more than political theater.

At the center of the proceedings are four individuals, including the founder of the company behind the Predator spyware. They face only minor charges, despite the scandal's explosive implications

for Greek democracy, national security, and press freedom.

Among the defendants is Tal Dilian, a former Israeli intelligence officer and head of Intellexa, the company that marketed Predator spyware.

Also on trial are his wife and business associate Sara Hamou, Greek businessman Felix Bitzios, and Giannis Lavranos, owner of a company with links to both Greek intelligence and law enforcement. They are accused of illegally surveilling journalist Thanasis Koukakis and former Meta cybersecurity policy manager Artemis Seaford.

But the courtroom will not be hearing about the other 85 or so individuals reportedly targeted by Predator, including cabinet ministers, high-ranking military officers, prosecutors, and journalists. Nor will it scrutinize the alleged role of Greece’s own intelligence agency, the EYP. That absence, critics say, is no accident.

The scandal broke wide open in 2022 after revelations that spyware was used alongside traditional wiretaps. It prompted the resignation of the EYP’s director and the prime minister’s closest aide.

Yet rather than confront the possibility of state-sponsored surveillance, prosecutors chose to pursue a limited case focused solely on the private sector.

No victims have been called to testify. No forensic analysis of infected devices was ordered. Key figures—such as employees of Intellexa or members of Greece’s Data Protection Authority—are not on the witness list. Some worry the case could be quietly dismissed due to the statute of limitations, since the 2019 Penal Code downgraded illegal surveillance from a felony to a misdemeanor.

Though the law was later changed, it doesn’t apply retroactively to the years when the alleged abuses occurred.

For many observers, the trial represents not justice, but its avoidance.

With crucial evidence excluded and state involvement untouched, the proceedings risk becoming a legal sideshow—one that offers the appearance of accountability without addressing the heart of one of Greece’s most serious democratic crises in recent memory.

#ENGLISH_EDITION #GREECE #PREDATOR
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