Access Now joins more than 30 human rights organizations
and individuals in condemning
the Pegasus spyware attack against Stelios Kouloglou, a
Greek journalist and then-Member of the European Parliament,
while he was serving on the PEGA
Committee, a European Parliament committee that
investigated Pegasus and other spyware abuses, as revealed
by the Citizen Lab. Citizen Lab’s report indicates that
Kouloglou’s iPhone was infected with Pegasus spyware on or
around October 21, 2022, and again on March 6 and 7,
2023.
Access Now is especially concerned about Citizen
Lab’s shocking
finding that on or around October 21, 2022,
Kouloglou’s iPhone was hacked by the same government that
also targeted several victims in our joint 2024
investigation of Pegasus hacking of Russian-
and Belarusian-speaking journalists and activists based in
the EU. According to the Citizen Lab’s forensic analysis,
on that day, Kouloglou was targeted from the same Apple ID
— rauharepo888[@]gmail. com — as several of the
victims named in the report. Citizen Lab has no evidence
that the hacking was the work of the Greek, Russian, or
Belarusian government.
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“The findings in the Citizen
Lab report that the same government that hacked Russian and
Belarusian journalists in exile has also targeted the
European Parliament are shocking but not surprising,” said
Natalia Krapiva, Senior Tech-Legal Counsel at Access
Now. “Those who target civil society do not stop
there, but often also target other groups, including
government officials. The scourge of spyware must be
urgently addressed, as it’s a threat to human rights,
democracy, and national security.”
Citizen Lab’s
report indicates that Kouloglou was hacked during key
periods of PEGA Committee activity and would have likely
allowed the attacker to capture non-public information about
committee activities, including preparations for the
publication of its first draft report. On the date of the
first documented infection, Kouloglou was in the hospital
and was visited by Greek investigative journalist Thanasis
Koukakis, who had testified to the PEGA Committee the
previous month as he was himself targeted
with Intellexa’s Predator spyware. The timing suggests
that the attacker was likely interested in monitoring
Kouloglou’s activities and communications related to the
PEGA Committee.
“The failure of any state to take
responsibility for the unlawful spyware infections of
Belarusian and Russian exiled journalists documented in 2024
only fuels impunity. Without accountability, these abuses
will continue,” said Marcel Kolaja, Policy &
Advocacy Director – Europe at Access Now. “We
call on EU Member States to effectively investigate all the
incidents and to guarantee that all the victims will have
access to effective remedies and justice.”
Access
Now and civil society partners recommend the EU conduct an
independent and impartial investigation into the hacking of
Kouloglou, determine the full scope of the spyware targeting
of the PEGA Committee, provide effective remedies to the
affected victims, and implement the PEGA Committee’s
recommendations.
