Greek prosecutor slams unflattering comparisons to Belgium’s Qatargate probe – Reuters

[ad_1]

ATHENS Greece’s Supreme Court prosecutor has blasted media criticizing Greek judicial authorities by comparing them unfavorably to Belgian investigators in charge of the Qatargate scandal. He called for a thorough tax audit of the media.

It is not possible for a section of the press, taking advantage of an essentially totally ineffective press law, to turn around and vilify anyone who, in the performance of their duties, does not act in accordance with their wishes, suggestions and even its dictates, said Isidoros Dogiakos on Saturday evening during the general assembly of the prosecutors’ union.

Dogiakos’ comments follow heavy criticism, mostly from left-leaning media outlets and opposition politicians of the Athens judiciary, for their handling of an ongoing investigation into a Greek wiretapping scandal. . This criticism has reached a crescendo in recent days, with comparisons to the relative speed and efficiency with which Belgian authorities have acted in their investigation into allegations of corruption in the European Parliament.

In the Qatargate scandal, the Belgian prosecutor was methodical and efficient. Why didn’t the same thing happen in the Greek wiretapping case? said the news site news247.gr in a December 15 article with a photo of Dogiakos.

Dogiakos suggested that some of the information operations “are not worthy of the once very honorable title and status of newspaper or magazine publisher”, adding that they keep “secret their financial status on the basis of which they have become publishers”.

However, a thorough tax audit of these few people may reveal many interesting facts about their professional activities, the Greek prosecutor said.

Commentators and politicians have joined the chorus of criticism on social media, some of them echoing the slogan: Bring in a Belgian prosecutor.

Belgium saves us, write others, while the Belgian examining magistrate Michel Claise becomes a bit famous in Greece.

“How great we would be here in Greece, if we had the efficiency of the institutions and the prosecutors and the judicial and political system of central Europe, of Belgium,” main opposition leader Alexis Tsipras said last week. . “I’m starting to envy this country. .”

Socialist leader Nikos Androulakis, speaking in the European Parliament on Tuesday, praised Belgian authorities for revealing the scandal as opposed to others who cover up the scandals.

The Qatargate investigation, which has seen at least 16 house raids and four arrests, is inevitably compared to the handling of the Greek wiretapping scandal, which involves dozens of state officials, journalists and businessmen. cases that would also have been wiretapped through state surveillance. like the malicious illegal spyware Predator. Greece’s conservative government has been repeatedly accused of trying to cover up the scandal.

It is not possible to mock and denigrate magistrates and prosecutors by comparing them to judges and prosecutors of foreign countries with different procedural systems against which, in their opinion, they are far inferior to foreigners, said Dogiakos.

Greek judicial authorities have been criticized for focusing more on how the leaks end up in the press, rather than the scandal itself.

On Friday, it was revealed that another MEP, Georgios Kyrtsos, as well as investigative journalist Tasos Telloglou, who led the revelations of the wiretapping scandal, were under state surveillance. The revelation came after an audit was carried out by the Greek Authority for Communications Security and Privacy (ADAE), which visited the telecommunications company to check for any surveillance orders on the two numbers.

It was reported that Dogiakos tried to intervene and stop the auditing authority. The prosecutor said he did contact the telecommunications company and the Greek spy service during the ADAE investigation, but claimed he did not prevent the investigation, although he believed that the audit was not legal.

Kyrtsos was expelled from the ruling New Democracy party and suspended from the European People’s Party earlier this year. He eventually left the EPP and joined Renew Europe.

According to officials, Kyrtsos’ surveillance was renewed nine times and took place on both his mobile phones and his landline.

Last Tuesday, four months after Greek prosecutors launched an investigation into the Predator wiretapping scandal and the use of malicious spyware and a year after the first spyware was revealed, police raided the offices of companies involved in the buying spyware.

Prosecutors also submitted formal requests to the state spy service, asking it to confirm whether political figures, ministers and heads of the armed forces were indeed under surveillance.

[ad_2]