A Historic First: Prison Sentences for Spyware Makers in Greece

On February 26, 2026, an Athens court delivered a landmark verdict in the “Predatorgate” scandal, sentencing executives of the spyware firm Intellexa to maximum prison terms for their role in the illegal deployment of Predator spyware. The court found the defendants guilty of breaching the confidentiality of communications and illegal access to personal data, handing down a cumulative sentence of over 126 years that was capped at 8 years effectively enforceable under Greek law. The case, which centered on the targeting of dozens of high-profile victims including investigative journalist Thanasis Koukakis and former Meta manager Artemis Seaford, represents the first time executives of a major spyware vendor have been held criminally accountable for their products in an EU court. Greece: Convictions in ‘Predatorgate’ scandal offer rare accountability (amnesty.org)

Independent reporting from the ICIJ and the European Parliament highlights the broader implications of the ruling, noting that the convictions have triggered a secondary “chain reaction” investigation into more serious felony espionage charges and potential collaboration with foreign state forces. While the sentences are currently suspended pending appeal, the ruling has already prompted new plenary debates in the European Parliament regarding the protection of fundamental rights and the need for stringent EU-wide safeguards against mercenary spyware. Greek court convicts Intellexa founder Tal Dilian, three others in wiretapping scandal (icij.org) / Rule of law in Greece: MEPs discuss “Predatorgate” convictions (europarl.europa.eu)