Government insists no link between Cyprus and Greece on spying

The case involving the Greek state’s attempt at eavesdropping on Greek EU lawmaker Nikos Androulakis continues to rock the Cypriot political system with government spokesman Marios Pelekanos clarifying on Monday that there is no question of carrying out a new investigation over surveillance.

A renewed round of back and forth between government and opposition forces over surveillance activities has taken place after a link connecting Cyprus and Cytrox, the company that developed the Predator spyware said to have been deployed in Androulakis’ eavesdrop attempt, was said to have been found.

According to daily Phileleftheros citing a variety of sources, among other links, it was found that Tal Dilian’s Limassol based company WS Wispear Systems Ltd, now renamed Passitoria Ltd, implicated in the infamous ‘spy van’ affair in Cyprus in 2019 had acquired Cytrox in 2018.

The Greek eavesdropping scandal has taken such dimensions, that a discussion over the matter will take place at EU parliament’s next plenary debate potentially involving a discussion of Cyprus’ role as well.

The PEGA committee, EU parliament’s committee of inquiry investigating the use of Pegasus and equivalent surveillance spyware, has also called on the EU commission to investigate Cyprus’ role in the scandal concerning the whole of Europe.

“Cyprus is not connected with the Predator software or with any other software subject to events taking place outside of Cyprus,” said government spokesman Marios Pelekanos on Monday speaking to Cybc.

Pelekanos further added that in case the European parliament’s investigatory committee calls on Nicosia, the government is ready to cooperate and prove that Cyprus is unrelated to the scandal.

Police spokesman Christos Andreou, also speaking to state radio, said that no criminal offences had arisen out of the investigation into the spy van’s servers, further noting that Europol had also investigated the evidence at hand.

Notably, however, an administrative fine of €925 thousand was imposed on the company, WS Wispear Systems Ltd, for GDPR violations.

Akel MP, Aristos Damianou reacting to Pelekanos’ statement in an announcement on Monday, said that while the Anastasiades-Disy government continues to engage in denial and obfuscation, the European parliament is debating the major issue of surveillance.

“The evidence implicating our government and state in illegal surveillance are real and the imposition of blackout attempted by the president and Pindarou [Disy’s HQ] shall not pass,” the announcement reads.

“What links connect the black van, Dilian and Avni’s activities, NSO’ groups activities the Predator software with the Cyprus intelligence agency (KYP) and the police?” it added.

Edek MEP Demetris Papadakis talking to Astra radio on Monday said that he felt being subject to surveillance several times and called for the authorities to provide convincing answers as to who they are monitoring, what software was sold out of Cyprus and to whom, stressing that an institutional framework governing the sale of such software must be placed as it exists abroad.

Papadakis also noted that he has been persistently and repeatedly requesting an investigation into the matter since 2019, pointing out that anyone who had the financial means could purchase monitoring systems.

Moreover, he added that the committee appointed by the EU parliament has instructions to investigate the case through and through, stressing that no political opponent should be monitored over national security considerations.

“It is a matter of democracy, and we demand that truth shines,” he said.

Over the weekend, presidential candidate Andreas Mavroyiannis had also expressed concerns that “because of the sensitive positions I have held in the past, I often had the impression that I was being watched and not by a single agency. I can neither prove nor exclude anything”.

“Without ever conceding to conspiracy theories, phobic syndromes or to a persecution mania my feeling is that our own services probably do not always respect the inviolability of communication, the freedom of expression, movement and activity of politically exposed persons,” Mavroyianis added.