Azerbaijan has used Pegasus to spy on 12 persons working in Armenia, including an Armenian government official, the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) says in its Resolution 2513.
“Recent reports have disclosed its use in connection with the Armenia-Azerbaijan conflict, against 12 persons working in Armenia, including an Armenian government official, in what appears to be an example of transnational targeted surveillance,” the resolution says.
The Parliamentary Assembly further notes that according to the “Pegasus Project” revelations, Azerbaijan has also used Pegasus against journalists, independent media owners and civil society activists.
“In July 2021, an international coalition of investigative journalists co-ordinated by Forbidden Stories, with the technical support of Amnesty International’s Security Lab (“the Pegasus Project”), published information about a leaked list of over 50,000 phone numbers identified as potential targets by clients of NSO Group, an Israeli company that developed and globally markets a spyware called Pegasus. This list included human rights defenders, political opponents, lawyers, diplomats, Heads of State and nearly 200 journalists from 24 countries. 11 countries around the world were identified as potential NSO clients, including two Council of Europe member States, Azerbaijan and Hungary,” reads the resolution.
