Athens News Agency: News in English, 06-02-13

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Gov't will strengthen laws for telecoms security, PM stresses

[01] Gov't will strengthen laws for telecoms security, PM stresses

At that time the affair had been kept secret and an unsuccessful 11-month investigation was launched to find those responsible.

The premier said that improvements to the existing regulatory framework required further strengthening laws and giving the country's independent authorities the staff and means that they need in order to operate in the most effective way, as well as systematic and intensive checking and a series of tougher penalty for those involved in such offences and those using the products of these crimes.

According to Karamanlis, the task of upgrading telecoms security was a matter for Parliament's Institutions and Transparency committee, to which the independent telecoms authorities were answerable.

Underlining that the "state will be implacable and the government's will is given, strong and unyielding," Karamanlis stressed that the citizens were being informed, their rights protected, the laws were being strengthened, the state fortified and the country's security upgraded.

He also made an appeal for unity and a joining of forces and efforts by the political parties on this issue, noting that it was a question of national security that "has no room for petty party politics and irresponsibility".

Karamanlis noted that the government had revealed and faced a criminal action targeting the country, the citizens and itself and that the country now faced an issue of major importance that demanded from all a sense of seriousness and responsibility and "non-negotiable dedication to the interests of the country and the rights of the citizens".

Pointing out that investigation of the case had been in the hands of justice from the start, the premier said that this investigation was now in a new decisive phase and that "everything is being investigated in all directions".

Underlining the government's trust and support for justice, meanwhile, he said the government would not flinch from holding those responsible to account.

Karamanlis made the announcements after a meeting with ADAE president Andreas Lambrinopoulos and EETT president Nikitas Alexandridis, also attended by Justice Minister Anastasios Papaligouras and Transport and Communications Minister Mihalis Liapis, and a separate meeting with legal experts Dimitris Tsatsos, Antonis Manitakis, Christos Kapsalis and Panagiotis Tsanakas, also attended by the two ministers.

During the last meeting, a committee was set up to assist state agencies and bodies in strengthening the legal framework for telecommunications privacy and security, which will be made up of the four men attending the meeting in addition to Nikos Androulakis and Giannis Manoledakis, who were absent.

In a statement afterwards, Tsatsos said the committee would be able to make its recommendations regarding further improvements to laws in about 10 days.

Opposition reactions

In reaction to Karamanlis' statements, a PASOK party spokesman later charged that "after 11 months of deafening silence and a cover-up, Mr. Karamanlis appeared today to speak as an uninvolved third party and not as the responsible premier of the country".

Spokesman Nikos Athanassakis also criticised the prime minister for his hypocritical stance, as he called it, saying that the leaderships of two independent watchdog authorities were only briefed Monday, 11 months after the mobile phone tapping conspiracy was discovered.

"A crime against the country's security and citizens' rights took place, as well as a second crime of political irresponsibility with the government's handling of the affair..." Athanassakis said.

Asked if main opposition PASOK will heed a call for consensus on the issue of strengthening the legal framework to ensure citizens' privacy, Athanassakis said consensus is impossible in a "case of cover-up".

"The people want the truth, and what we demand is the truth," he said, adding however, that each party can table its contributions if there is a gap in the institutional framework.

On its part, the Communist Party of Greece's (KKE) press office noted that the premier's statements added nothing to clearing up the furor, "therefore, the government's responsibilities are significant".

"The truth will not be known, this is to be expected, as the guilt of countries, companies, governments, intelligence services and other apparatuses of imperialism have worked to keep it (truth) a secret. The ND government is involved and participating in this menagerie, as were the PASOK governments," the KKE press release reads.

Coalition of the Left, Movements and Ecology (Synaspismos) party leader Alekos Alavanos urged Karamanlis to "give up his policy of reassurances and good intentions that are not borne out by reality" and to release any evidence that exists concerning the involvement of both foreign and Greek secret services in the phone-tapping affair and the Pakistani abductions case.

Alavanos called on the government to brief the parties on a National Intelligence Services (EYP) document that was sent to all mobile phone providers earlier this month and makes plans for the installation of a special facility for the monitoring and tapping of more than 30,000 phones by mobile phone companies.

According to the Coalition's president, the plan is taking place in preparation for implementing an EU directive on monitoring telecommunications but actually exceeds the remit of the directive, which just calls for recording calls made, whereas the systems being installed are for monitoring their content.

He also accused EYP of violating laws concerning telephone surveillance by tapping phones without a warrant from an appeal court public prosecutor.

Synaspismos member Nikos Hountis, meanwhile, dismissed the premier's announcements as spin and said the government was simply trying to 'manage' the phone-tapping issue "without providing answers over the specific case, or in dealing with the problem".

Unveiling one of the severest proposals to date, Hountis called for the revocation of mobile phone operator Vodafone's license.

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