Response to the spikes left yesterday by a government representative Yannis Oikonomou the head of the Communications Privacy Enforcement Administration (ADAE) expresses his attitude, Christ Rammoswith his written statement.

its president ADAE notes, among other things, that his meetings with SYRIZA President Alexis Tsipras took place at the initiative of the head of the official opposition. He also mentions that Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis never asked to see him and makes it clear that nothing is more alien to his character and his aspirations than his involvement in politics. He also emphasizes that he considers the statement that he seeks to play the role of a political figure as a deep insult to his honor and reputation.

It is recalled that the political storm was caused by the initiative of the head of ADAE, Christos Rammos, who sent letters to the Speaker of Parliament, the parties and the Minister of Justice, in which he reports that the Office has identified legal investments for the Minister and five officers of the Armed Forces. The government attributed political incentives to Chr. Rammo, and Al. Tsipras, who met with the president of the republic, demanded the resignation of the prime minister, and today the opposition is being transferred to parliament.

Government spokesman Yannis Oikonomou issued a lengthy statement yesterday in which, among other things, referring to Chr. Rammo stated that “What the head of ADAE has been doing for a long time is a serious mistake. institutional and political. Our silence all this time was not a weakness, but an attitude of responsibility towards what ADAE should have been.”

“With all due respect to the representative of the government, in order to restore the truth, I must note the following:

1. I have never taken the initiative to meet with Mr. Leader of the Official Opposition and the President of SYRIZA. Whenever he visited ADAE, it was at his own request. And, as I said on another occasion, ADAE’s door is open to all party leaders represented in Parliament, to which Article 8 §6 of the recent Law 5002/2022 (which is also preceded by Article 5 §4 of Law 2225/1994) makes me an institutional interlocutor.

2. The Prime Minister never asked to see me. And this happened, obviously, because I had regular communication on ADAE’s competence all these years, when I was the president of the Office, with the responsible minister, Mr. Gerapetritis. I also had two meetings on my own initiative with the Minister of Justice.

3. I have never said that the briefing of political party leaders should be limited to providing statistics in connection with declassification. In any case, they are made public in the ADAE’s annual report of events. In response to a related question from a Member of Parliament, and also in my letter to the Minister of Justice, I mentioned both in parliamentary institutions and in the Transparency Committee that the provision of article 5 § 4 of Law 2225/1994 (which is currently not applicable), which provided for that the president of ADAE informs the leaders of political parties of any case of a prosecutor’s decision to remove confidentiality, during the time that I dominated the ADAE, even before I became its chairman, the perception could not be interpreted in the sense that there is duty to notify the aforementioned leaders of the full content of each prosecutor’s order with its confidential information, since the law restricts notification of these orders only to the Minister of Justice. In addition, I explained that, despite the above, it became impossible to inform the leaders of the parties about each provision, when in 2021, for example, their total number reached 18,000. Finally, I note in relation to this matter that, other than the request of Mr. Leader of the Official Opposition dated December 7, 2022, no political leader has ever asked me to inform him of any issue regarding the removal of confidentiality.

4. In addition to the fact that no provision of the Constitution or law prohibits the chairmen of independent bodies from writing articles on scientific issues, I wrote one and only article in all four years of my tenure as president of ADAE. and this was the formulation of a scientific opinion, for which I expressly explained that it does not echo the opinion of ADAE, in my article of 7.4.2021 on the legal website www.constitutionalism.gr.

5. As far as I know, Greek government officials are not prohibited from testifying in committees of the European Parliament (in which Greek MEPs are known to participate). Twice during my tenure I have testified before the European Parliament’s PEGA Investigative Committee in hearings, not as a witness and never on my own initiative, but on call. In both of these cases, besides me, many other Greek government officials testified, such as, for example, Mr. Secretary General of the Ministry of Justice in the first of them.

6. I must remind you once again that, in accordance with the provision of Article 6 § 1 of Law 3115/2003, “ADAE conducts, ex officio or on complaint, regular and extraordinary inspections of facilities, technical equipment, records, databanks and documents of the National Information Service ( EYP), other government agencies, organizations, broader public sector entities, and private entities engaged in postal, telecommunications, or other response and communications services.” So I can’t understand what kind of legal problem the ADAE’s recent checks on ISPs are creating. As for the ADAE file, apart from the fact that the Authority had a great digitized file, it should still be doing checks on the ISPs to establish that they implemented a specific privacy deprivation clause, and if legality is respected, I have repeatedly explained to the Committee on Institutions and Transparency that ADAE is not responsible for the absence of a special digitized and editable electronic file, since the Greek state has always preferred to transmit a huge number of declassification orders in paper form. The accumulation of several tens of thousands of regulations and resolutions in the special repositories of the Office makes it completely impossible to manage and process it with an extremely understaffed body, such as ADAE. Moreover, this becomes almost impossible with the new law 5002/22, which, in article 8, paragraph 2, provides that the search for data from the ADAE archive can only be carried out by its chairman and two other members of the Plenum, which is thus prohibited by assistance in this matter from employees of the Office. Finally, I would like to recall on this matter that the Greek State has not yet adopted the joint ministerial decision that was provided for by law (art. 37 par. 2 of Law 4786/2021, Official Gazette A 43/23.3.2021) and that it is a necessary condition, to finally be able to work with a usable electronic ADAE file, and this despite the fact that 22 months have passed.

7. With regard to the reference to the alleged contempt on my part and on the part of the Authority of Mr. Prosecutor of the Supreme Court, I should note that, as I explained in the press release of 01/10/2023, the opinions of the prosecution authorities are considered scientific legal texts, but are not legally binding. In addition, independent bodies, of course, are also subject to the principle of legality, but this does not mean that they can be subject to preventive control and formulate binding instructions from any other state body on how to exercise their powers. If someone considers that the action of an independent body is illegal, he can apply to the competent body for a decision on this issue in accordance with the Constitution and the Law on Administrative Justice.

8. I consider it deeply offensive to my honor and reputation to say that I am trying to play the role of a political agent. Where does the government representative get this statement from? My background of almost 40 years in the State Council and almost 4 years in ADAE proves this beyond any doubt. This can be confirmed by everyone who knows me. There is nothing more alien to my character and occupation than my participation in politics.

9. Lastly – unfortunately, not too much, I’m afraid – I am obliged to remind you that the independence of the Authority for Ensuring the Secrecy of Communications, which I have the honor to preside over, is established by the Constitution and in relation to the executive branch and is accountable to Parliament. It is also self-evident that, like other independent bodies, the ADAE should function as an institutional counterbalance and guarantor of the principles of the rule of law in its area of ​​competence. Only this I am determined to continue to fulfill the obligation that I have taken upon myself by accepting my appointment as head of the Authority by an overwhelming majority of the Conference of Speakers of the House.