Democracy is under surveillance…

The PEGASUS Committee’s Report of Findings and Recommendations approved:

9 May 2023, AKEL C.C. Press Office, Nicosia

In the end, when the PEGASUS Committee visited Cyprus to investigate the allegations about the presence and operation of companies producing and exporting surveillance spy software, it did not meet “ghosts” as Mr. Anastasiades had proclaimed. Besides, AKEL submitted a series of documents to the competent Parliamentary Legal Affairs Committee on the political, economic and institutional interconnection on surveillance/wiretapping.

After persistent and methodical work, the PEGASUS Committee has concluded two Reports with Findings and Recommendations.

Apart from the general findings on the lack of a broader European institutional framework for surveillance software and the need for reforms for its use on the basis of proportionality, necessity and legality, Cyprus is exposed in both Reports.

The black spy van case and the need to make the relevant finding (of the probe carried out) public is recorded, the Cyprus-Greece link with Intellexa company intelligence system provider and the Predator software is documented, Cyprus is mentioned as an export hub and the existence and presence of the notorious NSO cyber intelligence Group on the island is identified.

In a stern tone, it is recommended to Cyprus that it should:

• Evaluate all export licenses and revoke them where necessary,
• Make public the report of the special investigator on the «Spyware Van» case,
• Fully investigate, with the assistance of EUROPOL, all allegations of surveillance/wiretapping, in particular of journalists, lawyers and civil society organisations.

The invocation of “national security” and “public interest” cannot be the ideal pretext for the current government to cover up those who illegally produce, sell and use this type of surveillance/wiretapping software.

AKEL has already requested the resumption of an ex officio discussion of the issue in the Parliamentary Committee, given the refusal of the authorities and institutions of the Republic to be accountable (for their actions) with transparency surrounding the sinister routes of surveillance and dual-use spy software.