The legal team of the NGO
Mediterranea Saving Humans, represented by attorneys Fabio
Lanfranca and Serena Romano said Monday that they filed a legal
complaint in Palermo asking authorities to investigate who
allegedly ordered to spy on the phone of the organization's
founder Luca Casarini through the suspected use of Paragon
Solutions' 'Graphite' military-grade hacking software.
The complaint was filed to the centre for cyber security of
Palermo's police department.
"We are asking to determine what type of activity was
undertaken", lawyer Serena Romano told ANSA.
Attorney Fabio Lanfranca said the complaint, which will also be
notified to the chief prosecutor of Palermo, mentioned the
charge of illegal access to a computer system, although other
charges including espionage would be considered after a number
of forensic tests had been completed on the cell phone of the
mission chief and founder of the sea-rescue NGO.
"Nobody can consider themselves above the law", said Lanfranca,
adding that "espionage weapons such as this one must be used by
respecting the law, while here we are dealing with a common
Italian citizen".
Casarini told ANSA last week that he would file a criminal
complaint after being notified that he was among those targeted
by Paragon Solutions' 'Graphite' military-grade hacking software
to spy on scores of activists and journalists in many countries,
including Italy, .
Mediterranea Saving Humans said it had received an official
communication from Meta, which manages the WhatsApp chat
service, informing Casarini that his cell phone "had been
violated in a high-level spyware operation, through the use of a
software described as among the most sophisticated in the
world".
Sources said last Friday that at least three people at
Mediterranea - perhaps as many as four - were notified that
their devices had been compromised.
The editor-in-chief of online investigative news outlet Fanpage,
Francesco Cancellato, was also among the victims in Italy.
In an exclusive report published on Thursday, The Guardian
newspaper said Paragon Solutions has terminated its client
relationship with Italy, quoting a person familiar with the
matter.
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