The hearing of National Intelligence Service (EYP) commander Theodoros Dravillas at the Institution and Transparency Committee of Parliament has had a shaky start, after Committee members complained about the presence of unidentified escorts.

The Communist Party’s Liana Kanelli warned that unless the identities of Mr. Dravillas’ escorts are revealed, she will retire from the hearing. According to Parliament regulations the hearing is confidential and MPs are about by this confidentiality even after their term. Journalists outside the room where the Committee convened were asked to leave.

Mr. Dravillas was requested to attend the hearing after allegations surfaced that EYP was eavesdropping on SYRIZA members. The recent revelations of the NSA’s worldwide surveillance operations and Theodoros Pangalos’ allegations that American diplomats in Athens were monitored by EYP have sparked further interest in the hearing.