(ANSA) – ROME, JUN 19 – The case of Israeli electronic snooping software firm Paragon being used to surveill the phones of journalists who have carried out exposés on the government is a “democratic scandal”, Green-Left Alliance (AVS) co-leader Angello Bonelli said Thursday.
On Thursday it was revealed that Roberto D’Agostino, publisher of the Dagospia muck-raking news website, had been spied on using Paragon, after two journalists from undercover journalism group Fanpage were found to have been spied on.
The government has terminated its contracts with Paragon, which is only available to governments, and Premier Giorgia Meloni’s executive has denied spying on journalists.
Two of Fanpage’s most widely viewed exposés caused severe embarrassment to Meloni who disciplined several embers of her right-wing party’s youth wing over anti-semitic and neo-fascist incidents.
Bonelli said: “Journalist Roberto D’Agostino is also among those spied on, after (Fanpage editor) Francesco Cancellato and (Fanpage reporter) Ciro Pellegrino.
“All journalists who have investigated the government.
“Are we in a regime in which opponents are spied on?.
“The government has only one way to deny this statement: to say who the spies are who used software for exclusive use by state apparatuses. “The government cannot remain silent: it must say who checked the journalists’ phones and why. “Roberto D’Agostino is the director of the online newspaper Dagospia, Cancellato is the director of Fanpage and Pellegrino is a journalist for Fanpage, journalists who have also investigated the government.
“This Paragon is a scandal, a serious problem for our democracy and the government’s silence is disturbing and worrying”.
(ANSA).
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On Thursday it was revealed that Roberto D’Agostino, publisher of the Dagospia muck-raking news website, had been spied on using Paragon, after two journalists from undercover journalism group Fanpage were found to have been spied on.
The government has terminated its contracts with Paragon, which is only available to governments, and Premier Giorgia Meloni’s executive has denied spying on journalists.
Two of Fanpage’s most widely viewed exposés caused severe embarrassment to Meloni who disciplined several embers of her right-wing party’s youth wing over anti-semitic and neo-fascist incidents.
Bonelli said: “Journalist Roberto D’Agostino is also among those spied on, after (Fanpage editor) Francesco Cancellato and (Fanpage reporter) Ciro Pellegrino.
“All journalists who have investigated the government.
“Are we in a regime in which opponents are spied on?.
“The government has only one way to deny this statement: to say who the spies are who used software for exclusive use by state apparatuses. “The government cannot remain silent: it must say who checked the journalists’ phones and why. “Roberto D’Agostino is the director of the online newspaper Dagospia, Cancellato is the director of Fanpage and Pellegrino is a journalist for Fanpage, journalists who have also investigated the government.
“This Paragon is a scandal, a serious problem for our democracy and the government’s silence is disturbing and worrying”.
(ANSA).
Read article…
