We stand by Pegasus findings, claims Amnesty International

July 23: Amnesty International on Thursday said it “categorically stands” by the findings of the Pegasus Project and asserted that the data is irrefutably linked to potential targets of NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. It also rejected “false rumours pushed on social media”. This comes after reports suggested that Amnesty had “denied” saying that a leaked list of phone numbers was linked to Israeli NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware.

At a press conference at the BJP headquarters on Thursday afternoon, Minister of State for External Affairs Meenakshi Lekhi claimed that Amnesty had “denied that the list which is floating around is not the actual list.”  Around the same time, Amnesty said: “Amnesty International categorically stands by the findings of the Pegasus  Project, and that the data is irrefutably linked to potential targets of NSO Group’s Pegasus spyware. The false rumours being pushed on social media are intended to distract from the widespread unlawful targeting of journalists, activists and others that the Pegasus Project has revealed.”

The Pegasus Project revealed a list of ‘potential targets’ which included journalists and politicians. The government has denied any role in snooping. There is no substance to the reports of spying, said new IT Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw in parliament on Monday, hours before he was revealed to be one of the potential targets.

Meanwhile, Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma during a press briefing earlier this week raised the demand that the central government must ban Amnesty International in India, which is spreading fake news to destabilize the government.