The President of France, Emmanuel Macron, has ordered the opening of an investigation into the alleged spying against journalists and politicians, including himself, through the Israeli-made Pegasus software, according to the French Prime Minister, Jean Castex, on Wednesday.
Castex reiterated in an interview granted to the television channel TF1 that “if the facts are proven, they are serious.” “It is necessary that we analyze this more precisely because of the potential seriousness (to know) what is the reality and the degree of ‘infection’,” he has said.
“The President of the Republic has ordered a whole series of investigations. It would be irresponsible on our part to talk about these things without knowing exactly the situation and the measures that could be carried out on our part,” the prime minister reiterated.
Sources of the French Executive confirmed on Tuesday that the authorities would have changed the president’s cell phones and their security has been configured in the “most restrictive possible” way in the face of suspicions that he could have been spied on.
The French public prosecutor’s office also announced the opening of an investigation after several media outlets revealed on Sunday that journalists from the online newspaper Mediapart, such as Lénaïg Bredoux and Edwy Plenel, are among the more than 180 journalists spied on around the world through this software, actions that would have been carried out covertly by various governments.
The Moroccan government, one of those accused of this alleged espionage, rejected the accusations on Wednesday and denounced a “media campaign” against Rabat, while calling for “tangible proof” of its involvement in these activities.
The investigation into the tool is being conducted by the Paris-based media consortium Forbidden Stories, which claims that the evidence was obtained from the phones themselves through a forensic analysis conducted by Amnesty International’s security laboratory.
