Attorney General’s Office to Seek FBI’s Help on Government Spying Probe Ana Isabel Martinez - Reuters
go to original June 26, 2017

Mexico is investigating allegations of online spying against prominent journalists and activists (Al Jazeera)

Mexico's attorney general said on Monday it will request help from the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to investigate accusations the administration of President Enrique Pena Nieto spied on private citizens.

Activists, human rights lawyers and journalists in Mexico filed a criminal complaint alleging their smartphones had been infected with spying software sold to the government to fight criminals and terrorists.

Pena Nieto called the charges "false" and asked the attorney general's office to investigate.

"We will ask the FBI for help," said Ricardo Sanchez of Mexico's attorney general office, known locally as the PGR.

The PGR will ask the alleged targets of the spying to hand over their phones for analysis, said Sanchez.

"All those persons who have formally stated or through the press that their mobile phones have been hacked will be asked to hand in their phones to the investigation in order to carry out a forensic analysis," said Sanchez.

It will also request telecommunications companies to hand over the records of calls of the cellphones that have been allegedly infected by the spyware. Those records are kept on file for two years, according to Mexican law.

Those claiming to be targeted by the software included Carmen Aristegui, a journalist who in 2014 helped reveal that President Enrique Pena Nieto's wife had acquired a house from a major government contractor, as well as Carlos Loret de Mola, a journalist at leading television network Televisa.

Read the rest at The New York Times

Related: Mexico Government Espionage Case Likely to Go Unprosecuted (Mexico Voices)

Related: Spyware to Tap Into Smartphones Puts Users’ Rights at Risk (VOA News)

Related: Mexico Hacked Journalists by Attacking Their Manhood (Daily Beast)

Related: Mexican President Denies Accusations of Espionage, Hints at Legal Retaliation (PanAm Post)

Related: Mexico Government Espionage: The Government That Spies On Its Own Citizens (Mexico Voices)

Related: Mexico: Is the State Spying on Journalists? (Deutsche Welle)

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