Pegasus affair: in Mexico, a journalist murdered among those spied on
Nearly 15,000 Mexicans, including journalists and human rights activists, have been spied on through the Pegasus software.
AFP - ALFREDO ESTRELLA
Text by: RFI Follow
2 min
Mexico is by far the country most affected by surveillance with Pegasus software developed by an Israeli company.
Of the roughly 50,000 people spied on around the world, nearly 15,000 are Mexican.
Among them, a majority of journalists and human rights defenders.
In particular, an independent reporter assassinated for an article deemed too critical of the authorities.
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With our correspondent in Mexico,
Antonella Francini
Cecilio Pineda Birto.
This name from the
Pegasus Project
list
leaves a particularly bitter flavor in Mexico.
In March 2017, this independent journalist was assassinated a few hours after accusing the police and politicians in his region of being associated with a local cartel.
His phone number appeared in the spy program's records a few weeks before his death.
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To read also
: A Mexican journalist murdered in the State of Guerrero
The Pegasus investigation pinpoints a reality Mexicans are already very familiar with.
Mexico has for years been the most deadly peaceful country for its journalists, with a dozen assassinations each year, according to Reporters Without Borders.
The first affected by these murders are the reporters who investigate the links between the power and the cartels.
In total, dozens of Mexican journalists and foreign correspondents have been monitored.
Also targeted by this espionage: human rights activists.
For example, the relatives of 43 students who disappeared in 2014. Since then, they have tried to prove the involvement of the state and the local police in the case.
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Read also:
Mexico, the deadliest country for journalists in 2020
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