MEPs plan to meet with officials in Nicosia over the use of Pegasus spyware

EU lawmakers who are part of the European parliament’s committee investigating the use of Pegasus software and other spyware (Pega) will meet with the island’s Attorney-General, Giorgos Savvides, Energy Minister Natasa Pilides, and the Deputy Minister of Digital Policy, Kyriakos Kokkinos, on November 1 and 2 in Nicosia.

According to information from the Cyprus News Agency (Cna), within the framework of the joint mission to investigate the alleged use of Predator software in Greece, the group of MEPs will also meet with Phileleftheros journalist Fanis Makrides, who has covered the issue extensively, as well as with members of the House Legal Committee. The lawyer, Elias Stefanou, is expected to participate in the meeting with the Attorney General, Cna reported.

The MEPs participating in the Pega delegation will then travel to Athens, where they will be until November4,  where they will meet with members of the former investigative committee of the Hellenic Parliament, as well as government officials including Minister of State Giorgos Gerapetritis and representatives of the Athens Prosecutor’s Office and the Hellenic Police.

They will also have meetings with Greek journalists who have covered the case of the surveillance, as well as with people who have reported surveillance, in particular the journalist Thanasis Koukakis, the MEP and leader of KINAL-PASOK, Nikos Androulakis, and Syriza MP, Christos Spirtzis.

Chairman of the House legal committee Nicos Tornaritis on Wednesday (October 26) said a joint session of the House legal and institutions committees will meet with member of Pega on November 2.

The European parliament set up a special committee back in March to investigate the use of spyware and any link between Cyprus and the eavesdropping affair in Greece.

The connecting thread between the two countries is thought to be the use of Predator software – deployed in Greece against a journalist and an opposition politician – given that the spyware is owned by a company formerly incorporated in Cyprus.

A type of spyware called Predator was deployed against Androulakis and Koukakis, according to a forensic analysis by digital rights group Citizen Lab and the European parliament produced in March this year.