Politicians, journalists, activists, lawyers around the world have fallen victims tracking with Pegasus software of the Israeli group NSO, as revealed in the summer of 2021 international investigative consortium of journalists.
According to Deutsche Welle, since then, the scenarios for who is being monitored are increasing. The French newspaper Le Monde claims that the names of the French president are on the disputed lists of people under surveillance. Emanuel Macron and the head of the European Council Charles Michel.
Amnesty International alleges that the Saudi journalist Kasogi fell victim to surveillance before being assassinated in Turkey.
A few days ago, the Spanish Prime Minister admitted that surveillance software was found on the Prime Minister’s mobile phone, while the newspaper El PaÃs and other media reported that the Spanish secret services also used Pegasus to monitor Catalan politicians and journalists. The whole affair is called “Catalangate” in Catalonia.
In an effort to provide answers, the European Parliament has set up a committee of inquiry into the case. The result is expected by April 2022. However, an extensive discussion took place on Wednesday in the Plenary Session of the European Parliament in Strasbourg.
For the first time, the public had the opportunity to learn more about the speculation about surveillance. “Our case shows that we can all fall victim to eavesdropping, there are already indications of surveillance of Commissioners, MEPs, officials of the institutions,” said Austrian Social Democrat Heines Heide. Many questions: Who is watching? Are the national governments themselves? Is the monitoring in line with national and European law? Were there court warrants? “If it turns out that national governments are trying to monitor Commission officials, it will be the biggest scandal since the Watergate era,” warns Dutch Liberal MEP Sophia Undefeld.
Giannis Papadimitriou, Strasbourg
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