TL;DR: An Athens court convicted Tal Dilian, Sara Hamou, Felix Bitzios, and Yiannis Lavranos over attempts to infect the phones of journalist Thanasis Koukakis and politician Nikos Androulakis with Predator spyware. The defendants remain free while they appeal.[1]
The Verdict
The court convicted all four defendants of violating communications confidentiality and illegally accessing data. Each received a sentence of more than 126 years, but Greek law caps the time served at eight years. Their sentences are suspended during appeal.[1]
- Tal Dilian: Founder of the Intellexa spyware consortium
- Sara Hamou: Dilian's business partner
- Felix Bitzios: A former Intellexa shareholder
- Yiannis Lavranos: A Greek businessman tied to the consortium
The Record reported that none of the four defendants was in court when the judgment was delivered. All remain free pending appeal.[1]
The Targets
The case centered on attempts to infect Koukakis and Androulakis with Predator. Koukakis is a financial journalist. Androulakis leads Greece's PASOK opposition party and was a member of the European Parliament when he was targeted.[1]
Predator can covertly access a phone's microphone, camera, contacts, and files. ICIJ reported that Dilian, a former commander of an elite Israeli intelligence unit, built Intellexa as a consortium selling the spyware to government clients.[2]
Why This Matters
Legal action against commercial spyware vendors has usually taken the form of civil lawsuits, formal complaints, sanctions, or government investigations. Citizen Lab's litigation tracker documents cases involving NSO Group, Intellexa, Cytrox, Paragon, and other vendors across multiple countries.[3]
What Happens Next
The defendants have appealed and remain free. The Record reported that prosecutors were also examining possible espionage offenses connected to the case.[1]
The convictions do not answer who ordered the surveillance or whether government agencies used Predator. They do establish that people tied to a spyware vendor can face criminal judgment over attempts to compromise journalists and politicians.