Pegasus: Oppositionists and journalists in Hungary condemn alleged surveillance by cyber weapons

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Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto

Photo: FEHIM DEMIR / EPA

Opposition and professional associations have expressed their shock after reports of possible surveillance of journalists.

Should the allegations prove to be true, this would be "unacceptable, outrageous and illegal," said the MUOSZ association.

The chairman of the parliamentary security committee, Janos Stummer of the right-wing opposition party Jobbik, said he wanted to convene a special session of the body. He received support from the opposition socialists, among others. Silently warned the ruling right-wing national party Fidesz against boycotting the planned committee meeting. Should this happen, he would see it as an admission of actual surveillance of Hungarian journalists and activists, Stummer wrote on Facebook.

An international journalist consortium had previously published new allegations against the Israeli company NSO.

According to these, traces of attacks with the company's Pegasus software are said to have been found on 37 smartphones of journalists, human rights activists, their family members and business people.

More than 50,000 potential surveillance victims

The numbers are part of a data set of more than 50,000 telephone numbers that the journalists evaluated together with the organizations Forbidden Stories and Amnesty International.

According to the reports, the numbers were apparently selected by NSO customers as potential spying targets.

NSO rejected the allegations on Sunday.

As the Hungarian research group "Direk36" reported, there are said to have been more than 300 potential surveillance targets in Hungary alone.

There was evidence that four Hungarian journalists and one photographer were monitored, as well as several business people and ex-politicians.

According to its own statements, »Direk36« is part of the journalist consortium.

Hungarian secret service IH denies involvement

Hungary's Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto denied allegations that his country had spied journalists or activists using the software.

The director of the IH secret service denied that the service was using the software, said Szijjarto, according to the news portal Telex.hu.

The service under his ministry is ready to provide information to the security committee of the Hungarian parliament, said the foreign minister.

IH is one of the five Hungarian secret services.

Szijjarto did not want to say whether another authority might have monitored people via Pegasus.

Since it took office for the first time in 2010, Hungary's government under Viktor Orbán has pursued an internationally criticized, restrictive media policy directed against the opposition press.

EU Commission President Ursula von der Leyen also called for clarification about the alleged surveillance.

"If it is true, then it is completely unacceptable," said von der Leyen.

"A free press is one of the cornerstones of the European Union."

fek / dpa / AFP