Former New Democracy PM Antonis Samaras, one of the victims of the Predator spyware surveillance, has turned to Greece;s top court, the Supreme Court, asking for full probe into the scandal. The ex PM asked the prosecutor to fully investigate the alleged compromise of his phone by the invasive Predator spyware.
The surprise move on Monday escalates Samaras’ rift with the conservative PM Kyriakos Mitsotakis.
In his petition, Samaras noted that repeated public demands for clarity from the government have met a wall of silence – an issue he directly challenged Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis on in Parliament in early April.
The legal move injects serious institutional weight back into “Predatorgate,” the sweeping 2022 surveillance scandal that revealed extensive wiretapping of Greek journalists, business leaders, politicians, ministers of Mitsotaklis government and also Samaras..
For Samaras – who was expelled from the ruling New Democracy party in late 2024 and is currently angling to launch a new political faction– the appeal marks a sharp escalation against his former peers, daily kathimerini and other media reported.
While Greek authorities continue to deny any state coordination or illegal use of the commercial spyware, the legal challenge ensures the political fallout of the surveillance crisis remains wide open.
It is indicative that Tal Dilian, founder of Intellexa (the company behind the Predator software), has publicly stated beginning of June that his company sells technology “only to government agencies and law enforcement agencies,” denying that he himself operated the systems on their behalf.
Government spokesman Pavlos Marinakis responded to Samaras’ move, saying that “once a citizen, whether a former prime minister or not, turns to the justice system, the answers are given by justice.” He added that when the wiretapping allegations first emerged publicly, Samaras was a candidate of the New Democracy party.
Samaras who was Prime Minister of Greece from 2012 until 2015, has sides with former ND PM Costa Karamanlis and both have repeatedly sharply criticized Mitsotakis’ policies especially regarding the National issues including Tturkey.
