A smartphone with the Israeli NSO Group website on display in Paris on July 21, 2021, which carries the “Pegasus” spyware.
- A suspect was arrested in Mexico for using the controversial Pegasus software to monitor journalists.
- The suspect-identified as Juan Carlos “G”-is believed to be the first person arrested for using spyware in Mexico.
- He was detained for illegally monitoring communications and was transferred to a prison in Mexico City.
MEXICO CITY-Mexican prosecutors said on Monday that they detained a man accused of using Pegasus software to monitor journalists at the center of a global spyware scandal.
The suspect was identified as Juan Carlos “G” and is believed to be the first person arrested in Mexico for using controversial software developed by the Israeli company NSO Group.
The Attorney General’s Office said he was detained in the central city of Querétaro on charges of illegally monitoring communications and was transferred to a prison in Mexico City.
It said in a statement that the suspect’s actions against the journalist, who asked not to be named, were intended to “restrict and undermine her freedom of speech.”
In July, an international media survey called the Pegasus Project revealed that 25 journalists in Mexico were targeted by NSO clients.
Only monitor criminals
One of them, Cecilio Pineda, was murdered in March 2017.
According to reports, a total of approximately 15,000 Mexican smartphone numbers are reported to be more than 50,000 selected by NSO customers for potential surveillance.
These figures include the inner circle of President Andres Manuel López Obrador, who was the political opponent of the opposition leader and then President Enrique Pena Nieto.
According to the Pegasus project investigation, the Mexican agencies that obtained spyware include the Ministry of National Defense, the Office of the Attorney General, and the National Security Intelligence Agency.
Lopez Obrador once said that the authorities now only monitor criminals, not political opponents or journalists.
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