Tal Dillian: “We sold the Predator to the Greek government and they made it work”

Intellexa Founder Tal Dilian said his company sold spyware Predator Greek public services, but did not administer the system in Greece.

His words are once again returning to the center of the political agenda wiretapping scandalwhich the authorities have been trying to close for years as if it was enough to simply turn off the light in the room where the documents are kept.

In an interview “Εφημερίδα των Συντακτών” Tal Dilianfounder Intellexa and a former Israeli military man, actually shifted responsibility for the use Predator on Greek government structures. According to him, the company acted as a technology supplier, not a system operator.

“We are a technology provider, not mercenaries. We sell to government agencies in accordance with all regulations, but we never manage systems on their behalf.”– stated Dilian. This formulation sounds especially inconvenient for the government, since it destroys the convenient version that the whole story with wiretapping was the work of several private individuals who allegedly bought it themselves, installed it themselves, listened to someone themselves, and the state simply passed by and accidentally did not notice the elephant in the corridor.

Dilian emphasizes that his company’s role was limited to the delivery of technology: Intellexa does not have to prove that no crimes occurred, but must show that it was not involved in the alleged surveillance activities. According to him, the case should be decided “on the basis of evidence, not political narratives.”

Separately, he rejected the statements of the Minister of Justice Giorgos Floridiswho previously linked responsibility in the case to “four private individuals.” According to version Dilianaif surveillance was indeed carried out on ministers, senior officers, journalists and representatives of the opposition, then the technical operation of the system was not the business of the supplier company, but of those structures that gained access to the software.

This is where the main political question arises: if Predator was sold to government agencies, who exactly received it, who authorized its use and who controlled the list of targets? The answer to this question is unpleasant not only for individual officials, but also for the entire architecture of power built around Megaro Maximo.

As an argument Dilian refers to the testimony of the former head Greek National Intelligence Service (ΕΥΠ) in parliament, according to which between Intellexa and the Greek intelligence service did not have a common operations center. That is, according to his version, the company supplied the tool, but was not at the control panel.

Why is this blowing up the Predator case again?

Statement Diliana falls on an already known line of defense Intellexa: The company claims that its technology was supplied only to government agencies. About this “Athens News” already written in the material “Predator “for states only”: Intellexa statements again alarm the wiretapping case”.

Now this line is becoming even tougher: if the supplier directly says that the system was transferred to public services, and not to private players, then the version of “four private players” no longer looks like an explanation, but a political fuse. Comfortable, but weak.

Dilian also expressed regret that a full-fledged investigative commission had not been created in parliament. According to him, such a commission could obtain the documents and evidence necessary to verify the entire chain: from the supply of technology to its possible use against politicians, journalists, military and other targets.

He said he shared the former prime minister’s position Antonis Samaras about the need for a parliamentary investigation. “We deeply regret that an investigative commission was not created. We would be ready to present all the data,” he said Dilian. He also added that at the appeal stage he intends to call former managers as witnesses. ΕΥΠ and political figures.

After the publication of the statement, political reaction was not long in coming. In Greece there are already demands to call Tala Diliana either to the judiciary or to a parliamentary commission so that he can testify and answer the key question: who exactly acquired and used Predator.

Editorial comment

History with Predator has long ceased to be a technical scandal about spyware. This is a question of who in Greece can put politicians, journalists, the military and the opposition under surveillance, and then hide responsibility behind the screen of “private individuals”.

Statement Tala Diliana is not a judicial verdict. But it destroys the most convenient construction for the authorities: as if the state were not an operator, but a random passerby. If the supplier says that he sold the technology to government agencies, then society has the right to demand not vague formulas, but specific answers: who was sold to, who turned it on, who listened and who provided political cover.

That is why the refusal to have a full-fledged investigative commission does not look like a concern for the legal purity of the process, but rather a fear of questions that are too difficult to answer publicly. In a normal democracy, such a scandal is investigated to the end. In a convenient democracy, he is sent to the archive until the archive itself begins to smoke.

Dilian said that the Greek people deserve a reliable procedure that can reveal the whole truth. And it’s hard to argue here: in fact Predator too many shadows, too many coincidences and too little transparency. And when the state demands trust but does not give answers, this is no longer a question of opposition rhetoric. This is a matter of political hygiene.

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