Azerbaijani journalist accuses authorities of illegal wiretapping

Fatima Movlanly, an Azerbaijani journalist, has filed a complaint with the prosecutor's office about illegal wiretapping of conversations on her smartphone. She has suggested that authorities were using eavesdropping software to track information about protest actions.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that human rights defenders and journalists have found out that authorities of a number of countries are using the spyware made by the Israeli company NSO Group to spy on journalists and politicians. Among those who were wiretapped are the journalists from Azerbaijan, Khadija Ismayilova and Sevindj Vagifgyzy.

Fatima Movlanly collaborates with the Azadlıq.info; she writes about repressions against activists in Azerbaijan and was detained by the police for about 12 times at mass actions. According to her story, she has repeatedly noticed that the information she told her colleagues became known to the police.

According to Ms Movlanly, she has no direct proofs of the use of the secret tapping software Pegasus produced by the Israeli company NSO Group. She learned about this soft and the company from foreign media. She demands from the authorities to protect her from any secret penetration into the sphere of her personal life.

Elchin Sadygov, an advocate for Movlanly, who is also among those wiretapped by the Pegasus software, has noted that such wiretapping violates the laws and the Constitution of Azerbaijan.