Supreme Court Prosecutor Evangelos Bakelas has ruled that the wiretapping scandal case file will remain archived, rejecting four separate requests for a renewed investigation. The decision marks the third time judicial authorities have declined to reopen the case.
Legal sources described the outcome as leaving “an open wound for the rule of law and democracy itself in Greece,” noting that multiple questions remain unanswered while the file stays shelved.
Bakelas determined there were no technical legal grounds at present to retrieve the case from the archives. Judicial sources stressed, however, that the ruling does not permanently close the matter. If new evidence is presented to the Supreme Court Prosecutor’s Office, the file can still be retrieved and a fresh investigation launched.
Political figures argued that the continued shelving of the case without any preliminary investigative steps does nothing to dispel suspicions of a cover-up. They pointed in particular to the potential scrutiny of those who held political responsibility for the National Intelligence Service (EYP) at the time, including former Secretary General of the Prime Minister’s Office Grigoris Dimitriadis.
The prosecutor’s reasoning on each request:
- Antonis Samaras: The former prime minister’s call for “full transparency” regarding the illegal wiretapping of his phone was rejected on the grounds that no new evidence had been submitted beyond material already examined by previous prosecutors.
- Christos Spirtzis: The former minister’s request was found to contain no new facts. Three emails he submitted concerning Civil Aviation Authority negotiations, an ESM programme evaluation, and a diplomatic telegram had already been investigated and did not constitute fresh evidence.
- Thanasis Koukakis and attorney Zacharias Kesses: The prosecutor ruled that proposed witnesses, including Tal Dilian, could not be treated as such if they were alleged to be the actual perpetrators. Statements by Dilian and related legal filings in Israel were deemed insufficient to justify reopening the case, as they did not establish that the spyware had been sold to any Greek state agency.
Zacharias Kesses, who represents several wiretapping victims, criticised the ruling sharply: “Supreme Court Prosecutor Bakelas invokes legal claims that do not constitute a convincing application of the law, but are instead constructs inadequately underpinned by the current legal framework. The decision does not address the substance of the critical issues the requests brought to light.”
Despite the latest decision, the broader wiretapping affair remains active. An appellate criminal trial is scheduled for December, and a series of civil lawsuits filed by victims are due to be heard in April 2027.
