Italian journalists union Fnsi and
guild OdG have filed a criminal complaint against unknown
persons to the State Attorney's Office in Rome demanding an
investigation into the case of the journalists who were
allegedly spied on through Paragon Solutions' military-grade
Graphite hacking software, the two organizations said on
Wednesday.
"We are dealing with facts that are not only violating the
criminal code but the Constitution itself: the press is free",
Fnsi secretary general Alessandra Costante said.
Meanwhile Odg president, Carlo Bartoli, said the complaint was
"an extraordinary act of which we perceive the gravity, but it
wasn't possible to wait longer: if the government does not
clarify this point, we can only appeal to the judiciary".
On Tuesday, Cabinet Undersecretary Alfredo Mantovano told Lower
House Speaker Lorenzo Fontana in a letter that the government
has already made public all declassified information over the
'Graphite' military-grade hacking software of Israeli company
Paragon Solutions.
The letter said the Paragon case was discussed by Parliament's
COPASIR security committee, which oversees Italy's intelligence
agencies, and the Minister for Relations with Parliament Luca
Ciriani had provided to lawmakers "the only information that
could be divulged to the public" during a question time session
at the Lower House on February 12.
Every other aspect of the case is classified and can only be
discussed by the government within COPASIR and not reported
directly to parliament, the letter said.
Last week, Ciriani denied reports that Paragon Solutions, which
is reported to only work with state entities, had terminated its
client relationship with Italy amid a furore over the alleged
illegal use of its hacking software to spy on journalists and
activists.
Migrant-rescue NGO Mediterranea Saving Humans founder and
operations chief Luca Casarini and the editor-in-chief of online
investigative news outlet Fanpage, Francesco Cancellato, were
reported to be among the victims in Italy.
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