Colombian President Gustavo Petro on Wednesday (4) asked the attorney general’s office to investigate the $11 million purchase of Pegasus spy software, which he said could have been used to spy on opposition politicians during the previous government.
Spyware technology, including Pegasus, has been repeatedly found to have been used to hack into the phones of civil society, political opposition and journalists over the past decade.
Pegasus spyware in particular – developed by Israeli company NSO – has been found on the phones of several people around the world, including human rights defenders.
“How does $11 million in cash leave the country on one or two planes, coming from state offices… to go to Israel to buy software that spies on cell phones, private communications, politics, maybe for months?” Petro said during a televised broadcast, citing documentation detailing the purchase from the Intelligence and Analysis Unit (UIAF).
Petro asked the UIAF director and the police chief to hand over the relevant documents and software to the attorney general’s office so that citizens can be satisfied that their rights are respected by the state.
In Brazil, the Jair Bolsonaro administration tried to buy the spy software in 2021, but the Federal Court of Auditors suspended the auction due to suspicions of flaws in the negotiation and use of the tool.
The Federal Police and the Attorney General’s Office, however, are still investigating the use of another spy program, called First Mile, which was also developed by an Israeli security company.
Investigators say there is evidence that the government used the tool to persecute political opponents, journalists and ministers of the Supreme Federal Court, which former president Jair Bolsonaro denies.
(With information from Reuters)
This content was originally published in Colombia investigates purchase of Pegasus spy software on the CNN Brasil website.
Source: CNN Brasil
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