Former Greek Deputy PM Venizelos warns of “systematic” rule of law violations amid wiretapping verdict
Former Greek Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Evangelos Venizelos has warned that serious breaches of the rule of law — including unlawful surveillance — cannot simply be “closed” by political will, following a landmark court ruling in Athens related to the country’s wiretapping scandal.
Responding to journalists’ questions regarding the decision of the Athens Single-Member Criminal Court, which found four defendants guilty in a case linked to illegal monitoring activities, Venizelos said that open wounds in the rule of law “do not heal because the government and its parliamentary majority wish them to.”
“Predator” Case Signals Institutional Gravity
The case centers on the illegal spyware known as Predator, which has been at the heart of Greece’s ongoing surveillance controversy. Venizelos emphasized that even at the level of a first-instance court, the conviction demonstrates that the judiciary can assert institutional will when faced with evidence of systemic wrongdoing.
He noted that the findings suggest indications of an institutional crime and raise broader questions about how the Greek state has handled a case touching the core of democratic governance and constitutional safeguards.
“The evidence that has emerged leaves clear signs of how the state manages a case that strikes at the essence of the rule of law,” Venizelos stated.
Minority Federation Raises Broader Concerns
Reacting to Venizelos’ remarks, Halit Habip Oğlu, President of the Federation of Western Thrace Turks in Europe (ABTTF), described the former deputy prime minister’s statements as “a declaration of the obvious.”
Habip Oğlu argued that alleged attempts to influence the judiciary in the illegal wiretapping scandal constitute a direct blow to the rule of law and reflect what he characterized as increasing politicization of justice in Greece in recent years.
He also pointed to Greece’s long-standing non-implementation of rulings by the European Court of Human Rights concerning associations of the Western Thrace Turkish minority. According to ABTTF, the failure to execute these judgments for nearly two decades underscores what it sees as a broader erosion of judicial independence and respect for international legal obligations.
The issue has repeatedly been addressed by the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe, which supervises the execution of ECHR judgments.
Ongoing Rule of Law Debate
The surveillance affair, including the Predator spyware revelations, has intensified scrutiny of Greece’s democratic institutions, both domestically and at the European level. The latest court ruling may mark a judicial milestone, but political and legal debates over institutional accountability are likely to continue.
The government has not yet issued a comprehensive response to Venizelos’ latest comments.
