Police are continuing to probe whether an Israeli high-tech surveillance van has broken any privacy laws or breached protection of personal data while the company involved claims it is a victim of a witch-hunt.
Opposition party AKEL leader Andros Kyprianou has voiced concerns that there could be a connection between WiSpear, the Israeli company that owns the van, the police and political parties.
There was a meeting on the issue at the Presidential Palace on Friday involving police chief Kypros Michaelides, President Nicos Anastasiades, Kyprianou and the Justice Minister.
Kyprianou told reporters he was informed at the meeting that “there was some kind of cooperation between the police and the company in question”.
He requested the appointment of an independent probe headed by the Attorney General.
The Legal Services issued a statement saying the Attorney-general saw no reason for the police not to continue with the investigation with no evidence to suggest anything untoward was going on.
The chief of police said the van’s multimillion equipment was being looked into, but investigations are still at a premature stage.
WiSpear, the Israeli company that owns the alleged ‘spy van’ refutes that it has carried out any surveillance operations in Cyprus or broken any laws.
In a statement on Friday, the company expressed its “surprise and annoyance” at being the victims of a “rumours campaign, full of innuendos and unsupported accusations by people with no authority on the subject”.
WiSpear said there was a witch-hunt against it with “unclear to us motives and aspirations”.
“Therefore, the company demand that the police investigate and find who was standing behind the false accusations on the company’s activities.”
The Cyprus police probe was triggered by a Forbes video story claiming an ex-Israeli intelligence officer was driving around in a GMC-type black ambulance turned surveillance unit with $9 mln worth of spying equipment.
In the video, Israeli Tal Dilian – CEO of WiSpear – explained the van and its state-of-the-art equipment can monitor mobile phones and intercept electronic communication within a 500-metre radius.
He told Forbes he can hack any phone and retrieve intel and listen into conversations regardless of the level of security that phone may have.
After the video went viral, Kyprianou demanded a thorough investigation to ascertain who is involved in the case and on whom was the equipment being used on, suggesting the company had political connections.
But the Larnaca-based Israeli firm strenuously denies this.
“We would like to restate that the car has not been active within Cypriot territory other than for demo and field tests purposes only, solely on company-owned devices, and under the guidelines directed by the local authorities,” said WiSpear.
It said the company rejects any “allusions and remarks” about its operations and behaviour while suggesting its good name has been damaged.
“Given the fact that WiSpear is considered to be among the leading companies in the field worldwide, the company withholds its right to seek legal compensation for misrepresentations that cause deliberate and irreversible damage to its public image and business activities.”
The firm sells its hacking and encryption tech to national governments, police, intelligence and military agencies.
