President of Colombia, Gustavo Petroreported on Wednesday that the police intelligence agency had purchased the software Pegasusused by several governments for political espionage, an Israeli company in June 2021, as the country was experiencing weeks of social protests.
“Colombian police intelligence agency bought $11 million in cash from Israeli company that develops software for spying on mobile phones “in the midst of a social outbreak and ahead of the 2022 (election) campaigns,” Petro said in a presidential address asking for an investigation into the purchase.
According to information provided to the president by the Financial Intelligence and Analysis Unit (UIAF), the Police Intelligence Directorate (Dipol) paid the Israeli company in cash and money.”was transported by plane from Bogota to Tel Aviv. June 27, 2021”, where it was declared at customs and credited to the company’s account.
Israeli software Pegasus, created by the Israeli company NSO Group Technologies Ltd., can facilitate wiretapping of telephone conversations, spying on e-mails and text communications through applications such as WhatsApp, and scanning documents contained in the memory of mobile phones.
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“How did $11 million in cash fly out of the country on a plane from government-connected agencies to Israel to buy spyware and spy on private political conversations for possibly months?” asked the president, who recalled his own campaign for president? subject of espionage and leaks to the press.
“Where did the money come from? “Why wasn’t this officially announced?” the president continued, asking how many people had been intercepted without a court order, and stressed that. This could be “money laundering by our own government.”
For this reason, he ordered the Director of Police, General William Rene Salamanca: find the “software” and deliver it to him together with information received from the prosecutor’s office to conduct the investigation.
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There have been several cases of political espionage in Colombia and the president himself has claimed to be a victim of it. The most high-profile case was the illegal wiretapping of members of the judiciary during the presidency of Alvaro Uribe (2002–2010), which led to a scandal with the conviction of some of the perpetrators.
That same year, a Constitutional Court judge reported possible espionage, which is being investigated. From this case, The president’s initiative arose with a request for information which led to the revelation of the alleged purchase of spyware by police intelligence. (EFE)
Source: Aristegui Noticias
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