date
- 24.02.2023
seminar
Reporters United “#PredatorGate: Investigating the underreported surveillance scandal in Greece”
Since December 2021, Reporters United has been investigating the wiretapping scandal, uncovering both the surveillance on part of the Greek national secret services (ΕΥP) and the spyware infections performed via the illegal spyware Predator. On January 4, 2022, we explained how the government changed the law governing the secret services practices by introducing an unconstitutional amendment to cover up its wiretapping. On April 15, we revealed that the amendment to the law intended to silence the surveillance of journalist Thanasis Koukakis. On June 3 and August 4, we documented (along with the newspaper “Efimerida ton Syntakton – EfSyn”) the business connections between Grigoris Dimitriadis, the nephew and general secretary of Prime Minister and businessman Felix Biggiou, a shareholder and former deputy administrator of Intellexa, the company that markets the spyware Predator in Greece. After these revelations, Mr. Dimitriadis resigned from the position of the Prime Minister’s general secretary (as did Panagiotis Kontoleon, who was holding at the time the position of General Director of Greek secret services) and filed a lawsuit against the journalists of Reporters United, the journalists “Efimerida ton Syntakton-Efsyn” and Thanasis Koukakis, claiming over half a million euros. Despite the lawsuit, which was denounced by domestic and international organizations as a SLAPP lawsuit aiming at silencing us, the investigation continued, revealing connections of government officials with businessman Yiannis Lavranos, involved in the wiretapping scandal, as well as the government's war against ADAE, the independent Authority defined by the Constitution as responsible for the protection of privacy of communications in Greece and which plays an important institutional role in clearing up the wiretapping scandal.
bio
Nikolas Leontopoulos is a journalist and the co-founder of Reporters United, a network of reporters in support of investigative journalism in Greece. He was born in 1971 in Athens. He worked for ten years for the newspaper “Kyriakatiki Eleftherotypia”. Since 2010 he has collaborated with a number of international media (Reuters, New York Times, Stern, etc.) as a fixer and reporter, and in documentary production and research (ARTE, ARD, Al Jazeera, VPRO). He participated in various attempts at independent journalism, such as Eleftherotypia, Galera, Facthemall, ThePressProject, Greek Report. He made two documentaries for VICE: “The Commission and the Shelters of the Defense Industry Lobby” and “The German Brother”. He has worked at Investigate Europe, a team of nine European journalists publishing in fifteen countries.
Thodoris Chondrogiannos is an investigative reporter and journalist of Reporters United, a centre for investigative journalism in Greece. He graduated from the Athens Law School in 2015, but soon realized that he loved narrating stories and devoted himself to journalism. In 2015 he moved to Germany, where he worked for Offener Kanal, and in 2018 he attended the Summer Investigative Reporting Course at Columbia University. He has worked for Greek and international media, such as Investigate Europe, Reporters United, VICE, Inside Story, Popaganda, RAI, Mediaset and ZDF. He speaks Greek, English, German, Italian and Russian. In 2019 he created his first feature documentary entitled “Silent Fish”, which addresses the issue of overfishing in the Mediterranean in the era of climate change.
seminar video
seminar video
date
- 24.02.2023
bio
Nikolas Leontopoulos is a journalist and the co-founder of Reporters United, a network of reporters in support of investigative journalism in Greece. He was born in 1971 in Athens. He worked for ten years for the newspaper “Kyriakatiki Eleftherotypia”. Since 2010 he has collaborated with a number of international media (Reuters, New York Times, Stern, etc.) as a fixer and reporter, and in documentary production and research (ARTE, ARD, Al Jazeera, VPRO). He participated in various attempts at independent journalism, such as Eleftherotypia, Galera, Facthemall, ThePressProject, Greek Report. He made two documentaries for VICE: “The Commission and the Shelters of the Defense Industry Lobby” and “The German Brother”. He has worked at Investigate Europe, a team of nine European journalists publishing in fifteen countries.
Thodoris Chondrogiannos is an investigative reporter and journalist of Reporters United, a centre for investigative journalism in Greece. He graduated from the Athens Law School in 2015, but soon realized that he loved narrating stories and devoted himself to journalism. In 2015 he moved to Germany, where he worked for Offener Kanal, and in 2018 he attended the Summer Investigative Reporting Course at Columbia University. He has worked for Greek and international media, such as Investigate Europe, Reporters United, VICE, Inside Story, Popaganda, RAI, Mediaset and ZDF. He speaks Greek, English, German, Italian and Russian. In 2019 he created his first feature documentary entitled “Silent Fish”, which addresses the issue of overfishing in the Mediterranean in the era of climate change.
seminar video
seminar video
seminar
Reporters United “#PredatorGate: Investigating the underreported surveillance scandal in Greece”
Since December 2021, Reporters United has been investigating the wiretapping scandal, uncovering both the surveillance on part of the Greek national secret services (ΕΥP) and the spyware infections performed via the illegal spyware Predator. On January 4, 2022, we explained how the government changed the law governing the secret services practices by introducing an unconstitutional amendment to cover up its wiretapping. On April 15, we revealed that the amendment to the law intended to silence the surveillance of journalist Thanasis Koukakis. On June 3 and August 4, we documented (along with the newspaper “Efimerida ton Syntakton – EfSyn”) the business connections between Grigoris Dimitriadis, the nephew and general secretary of Prime Minister and businessman Felix Biggiou, a shareholder and former deputy administrator of Intellexa, the company that markets the spyware Predator in Greece. After these revelations, Mr. Dimitriadis resigned from the position of the Prime Minister’s general secretary (as did Panagiotis Kontoleon, who was holding at the time the position of General Director of Greek secret services) and filed a lawsuit against the journalists of Reporters United, the journalists “Efimerida ton Syntakton-Efsyn” and Thanasis Koukakis, claiming over half a million euros. Despite the lawsuit, which was denounced by domestic and international organizations as a SLAPP lawsuit aiming at silencing us, the investigation continued, revealing connections of government officials with businessman Yiannis Lavranos, involved in the wiretapping scandal, as well as the government's war against ADAE, the independent Authority defined by the Constitution as responsible for the protection of privacy of communications in Greece and which plays an important institutional role in clearing up the wiretapping scandal.
