France investigates alleged spyware use against dissidents
Paris, Jul 20: The Paris prosecutor's office is investigating the suspected widespread use of spyware made by Israel-based NSO Group to target journalists, human rights activists and political dissidents.
The prosecutor's office said in a statement on Tuesday that it opened an investigation into a raft of potential charges, including violation of privacy, illegal use of data and illegally selling spyware.
As is common under French law, the investigation doesn't name a suspected perpetrator but is aimed at determining who might eventually be sent to trial. It was prompted by a legal complaint by two journalists and French investigative website Mediapart.
An investigation by a global media consortium published this week found more than 1,000 individuals in 50 countries who were allegedly selected by NSO clients for potential surveillance by its flagship Pegasus spyware. Among them were journalists and politicians in France.
Based on leaked data, the consortium identified the targets from a list of more than 50,000 cellphone numbers obtained by the Paris-based journalism nonprofit Forbidden Stories and the human rights group Amnesty International and shared with 16 news organizations.
NSO Group denied that it ever maintained a list of potential, past or existing targets.
It called the Forbidden Stories report "full of wrong assumptions and uncorroborated theories."
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Woman 'gang-raped', thrown out of car in Faridabad; 2 held
Faridabad (PTI): A 25-year-old married woman was allegedly gang-raped in a moving van here and later thrown onto the road, sustaining serious head injuries, police said on Wednesday.
The incident occurred late Monday after the two accused offered her a lift while she was waiting for transport, according to the complaint lodged by the woman's sister.
The duo, who hail from Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh and are currently living in Faridabad, has been arrested, police said.
The woman, who was staying at her parents' house due to a marital discord, had gone to her friend's house in Sector 23 on Monday evening, and while returning late at night, she was offered a lift by the accused, police said.
Instead of taking her to her destination, the duo drove towards Gurugram and raped her inside the car, police said.
"The woman was driven around through the night and thrown out of the car near Raja Chowk at around 3 am, leaving her with serious injuries," a police officer said.
The woman managed to call her sister, who reached the spot and took her to a hospital.
"We have nabbed the accused and are questioning them. A test identification parade of the accused will be conducted soon," Yashpal Yadav, the spokesperson of Faridabad police, said.
