The report also condemned state organisations in Hungary and Poland, among others, of illegally using the NSO Group's Pegasus spy software to eavesdrop on journalists, human rights activists, and politicians.Continue reading
The opposition Democratic Coalition (DK) has proposed that the European parliamentary committee tasked with investigating abuses of power in connection with Pegasus spyware used in Hungary should pay a visit to the country.
According to press reports quoting a leaked document last July, the spyware was found on the devices of some 300 Hungarian opposition politicians, journalists, and activists, DK MEP Sándor Rónai said on Thursday.
Rónai accused the government of “contradicting themselves” regarding the use of the software, which was sold by an Israeli company to government agencies. The committee has an obligation to hear “the government member primarily responsible for the Pegasus scandal” in Hungary, Justice Minister Judit Varga, and to “compel her to speak the truth,” he said.
Rónai, who acts as the first vice president of the Pegasus committee, said that Varga’s “close colleagues signed off on illegal wiretapping … and the minister has been unable to give a clear explanation for months.”
The committee is tasked with preparing European Union legislation to stop member state governments from “wiretapping people based on whim,” he said.
Featured photo by Szilárd Koszticsák/MTI